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The sesame seed-covered bread ring of Thessaloniki is one of the most popular snacks in Greece. It does not only bring memories of childhood but is also one of the healthiest sources of carbohydrates, proteins and other nutrients and energy.

Although its name is associated with Thessaloniki, the sesame seed-covered bread ring had long ago conquered Greece. It is already prepared in every possible way - with multigrain flour, with fillings, without sesame seeds, with tahini, with wholemeal flour, etc.

However, refugees from Asia Minor started to make the classic sesame seed-covered bread ring of Thessaloniki in 1923. Displaced from their homes, they had brought the bread ring to Greece and started making and selling it in large round baking dishes, which they carried on their heads early in the morning.

Although its name is not officially registered, the sesame seed-covered bread ring is associated with Thessaloniki as its story dates back to the time of the Byzantine Empire, when it appeared mostly in Constantinople and Thessaloniki. Later vendors in Istanbul "advertised" their wares under the name of "sesame seed-covered bread ring of Thessaloniki" and, much later, the same name began to be used in the region of Athens.

The tradition continues almost unchanged to this day. Both in Greece and in Turkey the vendors of bread rings can be found in central locations in the centre of large cities. They offer them in baskets, trays or in more modern glass windows.

The sesame seed-covered bread ring of Thessaloniki is a very useful and inexpensive snack. You can eat it while walking down the street, take it with you to your place of work and combine it with a piece of cheese.

The recipe is simple as the ingredients include flour, yeast, water, salt and sugar. However, the secret to the taste of the bread ring, in addition to the dough and the method of baking, is high quality sesame. Sesame seed and its derivatives such as tahini, halva and sesame oil may be rich in calories but, at the same time, they have a high nutritional value.

Only 28 grams of sesame seeds supply us with more than a quarter of the amount of calcium we need. Sesame contains vegetable proteins of high biological value and mainly vitamins such as B1, B2 and niacin (vitamin B5). The increased content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in sesame makes it particularly nutritious since the human body is unable to synthesize this type of fat.

In recent years, several studies have associated the nutritional value of sesame with the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases prevalent among residents of western countries such as cardiovascular diseases and cancers and others, and have established that the sesame oil contains phytochemicals with strong antioxidant properties.