cumin seed

BOTANICAL NAME

Cuminum cyminum

AKA

cumin
Roman caraway
spice caraway

Cumin seed is the dried fruit of an annual herbaceous plant in the parsley family, called Cuminum cyminum. The plant is native to southwestern and central Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. Cumin favors subtropical climates with multi-monthed stretches of warm temperatures. Today, the large majority of cumin is grown in India, with areas of Syria and Turkey also producing crops.

Cumin needs diligent weeding, and often also thinning, to maintain the plants' health. Cumin's slender stalk has branches that radiate flowers in dense umbels which can prevent light from getting to plants of lesser height. Cumin plants are tender on the whole, and therefore require harvesting by hand—done after flowering, when the seeds harden and brown in color, and the vegetative parts wither. It is graded according to seed shade, oil content, and flavor.

Cumin has been found in excavations of ancient civilizations where it appears to have had a variety of uses beyond just as a culinary spice—including aiding preservation in mummifications. It is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, and later seems to have been regularly consumed by Romans.

Brought to the new world by the Spanish and Portuguese—where it would become a regular addition to the chili powder spice blends that flavor chili con carne and also in achiote mixes—nowadays cumin is found just as readily in South American and Mexican cooking as in Indian, Persian, Middle Eastern, and North African dishes. It can also be found in traditional French breads and Leyden cheese from the Netherlands.