Pasteli

The oldest sweet in Greece, almost unchanged since antiquity: white sesame toasted and folded into honey cooked to the firm-ball stage, poured out, pressed thin, and cut into glossy amber bars, the sesamis the ancient Greeks gave to soldiers and ate at weddings, two ingredients and nothing else

Origin: Greece

From the journey of Sesame.

Pasteli is one of the most ancient sweets still eaten in its homeland. The classical Greeks knew it as sesamis, a cake of sesame pounded with honey, recorded by writers from Herodotus onward; it was offered at weddings as a symbol of fertility and plenty, and given to soldiers and travellers as concentrated, long-keeping nourishment, an early energy bar in the most literal sense. The recipe has barely changed in two and a half thousand years, because it cannot be improved upon: good honey and good sesame, cooked together to the point where the honey sets firm, need nothing more. The island of Kalamata and the region of the Peloponnese are particularly known for it, but pasteli is sold across Greece and throughout the eastern Mediterranean, where the same sesame-and-sweetener idea runs on into the halva of the Levant and the pastelli and simsimiyya of the Arab world. It is naturally vegan in its purest honey-free, syrup-based street versions, though the classic is made with honey.

Ingredients

  • 200 g white sesame seeds
  • 200 g Greek honey (thyme honey for preference)
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 0.5 tsp lemon zest, finely grated (optional)

Method

  1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes until evenly pale gold and fragrant, and just beginning to pop. Tip onto a plate and keep warm; cold seeds will seize the honey.
  2. Line a baking tray or board with a sheet of baking paper and have a second sheet ready. Lightly oil a rolling pin.
  3. Warm the honey with the pinch of salt in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until it reaches the firm-ball stage, about 120°C on a sugar thermometer: a drop added to cold water should form a firm but still pliable ball.
  4. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the warm sesame seeds and the lemon zest if using, working quickly until every seed is coated and the mixture pulls together.
  5. Tip the mixture onto the lined tray. Lay the second sheet of paper on top and roll out firmly to a slab about 7 to 8mm thick. Peel off the top sheet.
  6. While still warm and soft, score and cut into bars or diamonds with an oiled knife. Leave to cool completely and set firm before separating the pieces.

Notes

Pasteli keeps for several weeks wrapped individually in baking paper in an airtight tin, which is why it has always been a travelling food. For a chewier, glossier bar, replace a third of the honey with glucose syrup, which also makes it more forgiving to cook. Some regions add toasted almonds, walnuts, or a little cinnamon. The mixture is sensitive to humidity: on a damp day the bars soften, so store them well sealed.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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