Other forms: sesames
If you pick a pod off a sesame plant and say “open sesame” like Ali Baba, you’ll get sesame seeds! People have been using sesame for its oil and seeds for over 3,000 years. That’s a lot of sesame bagels.
Tiny sesame seeds are often used in baked goods, on sushi, to make oil, and in the Middle Eastern paste, tahini. The word itself is rooted in the Greek sesamon, "seed or fruit of the sesame plant." It's also been part of the well-known magical phrase, "open sesame" since Antoine Galland added it to the “One Thousand and One Nights.” in French: "Sésame, ouvre-toi!" Ali Baba uses it to open the forty thieves’ cave.