LOCAL, CHEMICAL FREE, GLUTEN-FREE
Slaves brought benne to the Carolina Sea Islands directly from Africa. We know benne today as sesame, but there is little resemblance in flavor or form between the two. Modern sesame is grown mainly for oil production. Colonial Era benne was low in oil content and was a kitchen garden staple for slaves, who simmered benne seeds in water to draw off the oil, and then decanted the water and oil off the wet seeds for use in rice cookery. The wet benne seeds were dried and pounded in a mortar into benne flour and added to biscuits, breads, and pones. Anson Mills emulates this process by pressing low-oil heirloom benne to draw off a small amount of oil. This makes compressed benne seeds called “bennecake.” We stone-mill fresh pressed bennecake to medium-fine bennecake flour with extraordinary flavor diversity. This flour is a blend of Benne, Rice, and Oats. Add this flour to rice, stews, soups, pastries, cookies, breads, and biscuits for subtle but stunning flavor enhancement.
Anson Mills, SC