Everything about Cumin totally explained
Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) (sometimes spelled
cummin) is a
flowering plant in the
family Apiaceae, native from the
east Mediterranean to
East India. Traditionally, it was pronounced, but [ˈkuːmɪn] and [ˈkjuːmɪn] are increasingly common.
Etymology
The English "cumin" derives from the French "cumin", which was borrowed indirectly from Arabic "كمون"
Kammon via Spanish
comino during the Arab rule in Spain in the 15th century. The spice is native to Arabic-speaking Syria where cumin thrives in its hot and arid lands. Cumin seeds have been found in some ancient Syrian archeological sites. The word found its way from Syria to neighbouring Turkey and nearby Greece most likely before it found its way to Spain, but like many other Arabic words in the English language, cumin was acquired through Western Europe rather than the Greece route. Some suggest that the word is derived from the Latin
cuminum and Greek κύμινον. The Greek term itself has been borrowed from a Arabic. Forms of this word are attested in several ancient Semitic languages, including
kamūnu in
Akkadian(External Link
). The ultimate source is a native Syrian language that could be the
Sumerian word
gamun (External Link).
A
folk etymology connects the word with the
Persian city
Kerman, where, the story goes, most of ancient Persia's cumin was produced. For the Persians the expression "carrying cumin to Kerman" has the same meaning as the
English language phrase "
carrying coals to Newcastle". Kerman, locally called "Kermun", would have become "Kumun" and finally "cumin" in the European languages.
In Northern
India and
Pakistan, cumin is known as
jeera or
jira or sometimes
zira; in Southern
India it's called
jeeragam (Tamil சீரகம்) or
jilakara (Telugu); in
Iran and
Central Asia, cumin is known as
zira; in
Turkey, cumin is known as
kimyon;in northwestern
China, cumin is known as
ziran. In
Arabic, it's known as
al-kamuwn (ال).
Cumin is called
kemun in Ethiopian, and is one of the ingredients in the spice mix
berbere.
Cultivation and uses
It is a
herbaceous annual plant, with a slender branched
stem 20-30 cm tall. The
leaves are 5-10 cm long,
pinnate or bipinnate, thread-like leaflets. The
flowers are small, white or pink, and borne in
umbels. The
fruit is a laterall fusiform or
ovoid achene 4-5 mm long, containing a single
seed. Cumin seeds are similar to
fennel seeds in appearance, but are smaller and darker in
colour.
Cumin seeds are used as a
spice for their distinctive aroma, popular in
North African,
Middle Eastern,
Western Chinese,
Indian,
Cuban and
Mexican cuisine.
Cumin's distinctive flavour and strong, warm aroma is due to its
essential oil content. Its main constituent and important
aroma compound is
cuminaldehyde (4-isopropylbenzaldehyde). Important aroma compounds of toasted cumin are the
substituted pyrazines, 2-ethoxy-3-isopropylpyrazine, 2-methoxy-3-
sec-butylpyrazine, and 2-methoxy-3-methylpyrazine.
Today, cumin is identified with
Indian,
Mexican and
Cuban cuisine. It is used as an ingredient of
curry powder. Cumin can be found in some
Dutch cheeses like
Leyden cheese, and in some traditional
breads from
France. It is also commonly used in traditional Brazilian cuisine. In
herbal medicine, cumin is classified as
stimulant,
carminative, and
antimicrobial.
Cumin can be used to season many dishes, as it draws out their natural sweetnesses. It is traditionally added to curries, enchiladas, tacos, and other Middle-eastern, Indian, Cuban and Mexican-style foods. It can also be added to salsa to give it extra flavour. Cumin has also been used on meat in addition to other common seasonings. The spice is a familiar taste in
Tex-Mex dishes and is extensively used in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Cumin was also used heavily in ancient Roman cuisine.
Cultivation of cumin requires a long, hot summer of 3-4 months, with daytime temperatures around 30°C (86°F); it's drought tolerant, and is mostly grown in
mediterranean climates. It is grown from seed sown in spring, and needs a fertile, well-drained soil.
Description
Cumin is the dried seed of the herb
Cuminum cyminum, a member of the parsley family. The cumin plant grows to 30-50 cm (1-2 ft) tall and is harvested by hand.
Uses
The flavour of cumin plays a major role in Cuban, Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, Turkish, Afgan and Indian cuisines. Cumin is a critical ingredient of chili powder, and is found in
achiote blends,
adobos,
sofrito,
garam masala,
curry powder, and
bahaarat.
Cumin seeds are often ground up before being added to dishes.
Cumin seeds are also often toasted by being heated in an ungreased frying pan to help release their essential oils.
Origins
Historically, Iran has been the principal supplier of cumin, but currently the major sources are India, Sri Lanka, Syria, Pakistan, and Turkey.
Folklore
Superstition during the Middle Ages cited that cumin kept chickens and lovers from wandering. It was also believed that a happy life awaited the bride and groom who carried cumin seed throughout the wedding ceremony. Cumin is also said to help in treatment of the
common cold, when added to hot milk and consumed.
Cumin tea is also believed to help induce labor in a woman who has gone post-dates with her pregnancy.
In Sri Lanka, toasting cumin seeds and then boiling them in water makes a tea used to soothe acute stomach problems.
History
Cumin has been in use since ancient times. Seeds, excavated at the
Syrian site
Tell ed-Der, have been dated to the
second millennium BC. They have also been reported from several
New Kingdom levels of
ancient Egyptian archaeological sites.
Originally cultivated in Iran and
Mediterranean region, cumin is mentioned in the
Bible in both the
Old Testament (
Isaiah 28:27) and the
New Testament (
Matthew 23:23). It was also known in
ancient Greece and
Rome. The Greeks kept cumin at the dining table in its own container (much as pepper is frequently kept today), and this practice continues in Morocco. Cumin fell out of favour in
Europe except in
Spain and
Malta during the
Middle Ages. It was introduced to the
Americas by Spanish colonists.
Since returned to favour in parts of Europe, today it's mostly grown in
Iran,
Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan,
Turkey,
Morocco,
Egypt,
India, Syria,
Mexico, and
Chile.
Confusion with other spices
Cumin is hotter to the taste, lighter in colour, and larger than
caraway (
Carum carvi), another umbelliferous spice that's sometimes confused with it. Many European languages don't distinguish clearly between the two. For example, in Czech caraway is called 'kmín' while cumin is called 'římský kmín' or "Roman caraway." Some older cookbooks erroneously name ground
coriander as the same spice as ground cumin.
The distantly related
Bunium persicum and the unrelated
Nigella sativa are both sometimes called
black cumin (
q.v.).
Images
Image:Dry-cumin-seeds.jpg|Dry, whole cumin fruit (or seed)
Image:Cumin-spice.jpg|Whole cumin seeds and ground cumin
Image:Cumin.JPG|Commercially packaged whole and ground cumin seeds
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cumin'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://cumin.totallyexplained.com">Cumin Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
