Rhodes Sesame and Honey Wedding Sweet (Melekouni)

Melekouni is close in spirit to pasteli, the simple sesame and honey bar found across mainland Greece, but it carries a specific ceremonial role on Rhodes that pasteli does not: it is traditionally prepared for weddings and given to guests, sometimes stamped with a decorative pattern, marking celebrations in a way that goes beyond simply being a sweet snack.

The Rhodian version is distinguished by its spicing, cinnamon and orange zest running through the sesame and honey base, giving a warmer, more aromatic result than plain pasteli, and by the tradition of cutting it into neat diamond shapes rather than plain bars.

The technique is the same patient honey-cooking work that any sesame and honey sweet demands: toast the seeds, cook the honey to a proper thickened stage, combine while both are hot, and press flat before it sets.

Key preparation steps

1. Toast sesame seeds until fragrant.
2. Cook honey with orange zest and cinnamon until thick.
3. Stir in the toasted sesame off the heat.
4. Press flat, cool slightly, and cut into diamonds.

Toasting the sesame

Toast the sesame seeds in a wide, dry pan over a medium heat, stirring or shaking constantly, until they turn a shade darker and smell distinctly nutty, which takes three to four minutes. Watch closely near the end, since sesame goes from perfectly toasted to burnt within moments.

The spiced honey

Heat honey with a cinnamon stick and strips of orange zest until it thickens noticeably and darkens slightly, about five to six minutes at a steady simmer, coating the back of a spoon heavily. This spicing, cinnamon and orange together, is what marks melekouni out from plain pasteli and is worth not skipping.

Remove the cinnamon stick and orange zest strips before adding the sesame, since you want their flavour infused into the honey rather than large pieces left in the finished sweet.

Setting and cutting into diamonds

Stir the toasted sesame into the hot, strained honey off the heat until fully combined, then tip out onto baking paper and press flat to an even thickness of about one centimetre, using a second sheet of paper and a rolling pin to level it.

Let it cool for a few minutes while still pliable, then cut into diamond shapes with a sharp knife, the traditional cut for melekouni, rather than plain squares or bars. Let it finish cooling and setting fully before separating the pieces.

What matters in this dish