When I was young, we used to go to "Western" chinese restaurants in our small town. As an appetizer they used to put out a plate of sesame seeds and another plate of soya sauce. We would dip our forks in the soy, then into the seeds and eat it off of our fork.

I now live in Vancouver which has tons of authentic chinese restaurants and I have even been to China, but have never seen this. Was this a western creation like some other styles of chinese food?