[Sca-cooks] Mace and Must Substitute

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Louise Smithson <helewyse at yahoo.com> wrote:
>The difference between the sesame oils may be one of preparation. 
>The oriental sesame oil (dark) tends to be from toasted sesame 
>seeds, while that from the middle east tends to be from raw sesame 
>oils.  Thus leading to a completely different taste experience.

Nope. I know the difference between regular sesame oil (which is a 
dark red-brown) and roasted sesame oil (which comes in varying shades 
of yellow).

Roasted sesame oil tends to be used as a seasoning, a flavoring, in 
certain East Asian dishes. It is not used as a basic cooking oil. 
Roasted sesame oil is not sold in my local hallal markets. And i 
certainly wouldn't buy it for use in Middle Eastern cooking, no 
matter how cosmically groovily it might have been created, because it 
is the wrong type of oil.

I've been using both kinds of sesame oil in cooking since the late 
1960s / early 1970s where appropriate. When making pie crust i used 
to mix unsalted butter and sesame oil together first, then work them 
into the flour.

The difference between the modern Middle Eastern sesame oil and the 
sesame oil from the natural food store is in how the seeds are 
treated to get the oil out.

The very best is the cold-pressed organic oil. That's the most 
expensive. It tastes fabulous. It is fresh, a little bright, nutty, 
and earthy. I don't know if they hull the seeds first or not.

The second best is the kind i usually get, which is a couple bucks 
less for a bottle, not organic and doesn't claim to be cold pressed, 
but has been processed with some care. It's quite good, and i suppose 
if i hadn't bought the organic, cold-pressed stuff, i'd be satisfied 
by it.

Third is the pale Middle Eastern sesame oil. It is earthy, but dull, 
and lacks the bright nutty character of the best cold-pressed sesame 
oil, and it is bitter and heavy tasting.

I don't really know how they extract it. It may be that the American 
processors remove the hulls before extracting the oil and the Middle 
Eastern processors leave on the hulls. Maybe that accounts for the 
bitterness. Or they may be pressing it in rollers such that a certain 
amount of heat is created - not roasting it, but that could cause 
deterioration of the oil. It doesn't taste roasted or toasted, it's 
just more bitter than i think it should be. Or they could be using a 
chemical extraction process. I don't know. I just know that sesame 
oil manufactured in the Middle East is much more bitter than the 
health food brand i've bought.

Cold pressing is the only way it would have been made in the past 
(between some big stones), but they might have left the skins on, so 
the flavor may well have been more like the cheaper health-food brand 
i buy.

Anyway, i recommend a taste test. Buy a pint of sesame oil made in 
the Middle East and a pint of Spectrum brand and taste the difference.

Generally speaking, i don't mind bitter flavors - for example, i 
don't use sugar in my coffee, i prefer VERY dark chocolate - but i 
don't like bitter sesame oil in my Medieval Abbasid  feast food and 
pastries or my modern food either.

Also, THANK YOU! for the Scappi beef/venison recipe. Sort of 
sauerbraten with fruit... My lips were smacking to keep back the 
salivating just reading it. I definitely want to give it a try!

Anahita