Little Surprises: Black Sesame

I think most of us probably take sesame seeds for granted. Normally, I don’t think much about them. Whenever I need some, I’d just grab a bag from the grocery store. I like them in my bread and stuff, but it never occur to me how these little seeds come by. Like nobody told me what a “sesame fruit” looks like. Or does it even grow on trees? What climate does it grow in?

Today, I saw a “sesame fruit” for the first time. And it’s just in my mother’s backyard. It took me by surprise. It looks like a tiny version of a cocoa fruit. Its bright green color is so pretty and definitely not what I was expecting.

The skin has very tiny hairs and is semi-soft. There’s a membrane that’s “protecting” the seeds, you’d have to peel off the off-white membrane to get to the seeds. And these are black sesame seeds. I didn’t expect them to come from a fruit that is bright green in color.

So what do you think? Am I the only person who has never seen one of these before?