I use this seasoning on pretty much everything I eat at the moment. It adds a nutty, toasty, salty deliciousness to a dish, I especially like to sprinkle it on soups and sandwiches. A batch can last about a month for me and it is so easy to put together and keep along with your regular salt and pepper.

I was inspired to recreate this seasoning after tasting it in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. A beautiful spot on the Southern Andean slopes. We were having lunch at a fresh and creative vegetarian cafe in downtown Vilcabamba (5 blocks of streets crammed full of spiritual shops, organic cafes and restaurants) The chef and owner served us a scrumptious 3 course delight, so good we came back twice, all for just £6 each! The starter was a Spinach soup which sounds pretty boring but it was made with local ingredients from the fertile valley of Vilcabamba which is known for it’s magical water and soil quality. The soup zinged with flavour, whilst our taste buds were still buzzing the owner came back to our table to add a glug of local olive oil and a generous sprinkle of the sesame salt to the soup. The flavour combination was just so good, my husband and I devoured the bowl in seconds.

Even after 2 more weeks of travelling around Ecuador, the soup and the seasoning were still one of my food highlights. Here is the recipe below with some ideas on how to use it. Enjoy!

Heat a frying pan to a medium temperature and then add the sesame seeds and chia seeds and toast for 5 minutes until lightly browned, you will also start to smell a nutty aroma. Place into a pestle & mortar or a grinder along with the salt. Leave around a tablespoon of the sesame seeds out of the grinder or pestle & mortar. (Adding the whole sesame seeds at the end adds texture) Grind the seeds and salt to a rough grain, mix in the whole seeds and taste. If you would like to add more salt feel free to add to your taste. Once cool, pour into a small airtight jar.