Sesame into a bar resembling peanut brittle and sold in stores and street corners. Sesame is a popular and essential ingredient in many Middle Eastern cuisines. Sesame seeds are made into a paste called "tahini" (used in various ways, including "hummus bi tahini") and the Middle Eastern confection "halvah". Ground and processed, the seed is also used in sweet confections. Sesame is also a common component of the Levantine spice mixture "za'atar", popular all throughout the Middle East. In South Asian, Middle Eastern, and East Asian cuisines, popular confectionery are made from sesame mixed with honey or syrup and roasted into
Hard-paste porcelain although this name has long fallen out of use. Hard-paste porcelain is now differentiated from soft-paste porcelain mainly by the firing temperature, with the former being higher, to around 1400°C, and the latter to around 1200°C. Depending on the raw materials and firing methods used, hard-paste porcelain can also resemble stoneware or earthenware. Hard-paste porcelain can also be used for unglazed biscuit porcelain. It is a translucent and bright, white ceramic. Hard-paste has the advantage over soft-paste that it is less likely to crack when exposed to hot liquids, but the higher firing temperature of hard-paste may necessitate a second