Ode to Black Sesame

Dear tiny black seeds of deliciousness.  With your crunchy exteriors and deep nutty flavor that crackles between my teeth.  Fallen onto my t-shirt, you appear as lost children from some black sanded desert.  And I, a giant white strawberry, seeded on the outside.  I sit and I wonder, what kind of tahini would you make, marvelous dark and pasty.  I want to grind you up and then watch you dissolve, each and every last one, into a dark glorious paste of spreadable wonder.  Black, creamy taste of the far exotic spicy east.

Here is my imaginary black tahini recipe:  (the amounts given are pure fiction)


1 c. roasted black sesame seeds
1/2 c. oil, take your pick on variety.  probably not olive.

Roast the sesame seeds in the oven.  I did mine a bit hot, starting at 450 for a few minutes, and then quickly recanting on the whole idea of fire and damnation and settling them down to about 300 after 2 to 3 minutes.  They were probably in the oven for about 10 minutes total.  It's hard to tell since they're black to begin with, but I pulled them out they were starting to crackle up and a few had discolored to an ashen grey.  Try not to worry about them burning.

After the seeds are roasted, toss them into a food processor with a the oil, mix it up a bit to make sure the oil coats all of the seeds, and the process the hell out of them.  They should make a delicious heavy black paste.