the.com/caraway
the spice that built rye bread's entire personality and still gets mistaken for cumin
means A small, crescent-shaped seed (actually the dried fruit) of a plant in the carrot family, used to flavor breads, cheeses, and liquors with its warm, slightly anise-like bite.
from The word arrived in English via Medieval Latin carui and Arabic karawiyā, and behind those likely stands the Greek karon, a name for the plant. The chain itself is well-attested; the popular notion that all these trace neatly back to a single ancient root is murkier than it looks, so the trail is best described as long and well-traveled rather than perfectly mapped.
- not a seed
- the spice is technically the plant's dried fruit
- ancient pedigree
- found in 5,000-year-old Stone Age cooking sites
- digestive duty
- long chewed to ease gas and bloating
- love charm
- once tucked into pigeon coops to prevent wandering
- kummel kick
- flavors a centuries-old European caraway liqueur
caraway seeds rye bread — traditional jewish and eastern european bread flavored with caraway seeds, centuries-old staple
caraway liqueur kummel — traditional scandinavian and baltic liqueur made with caraway, distilled since 16th century
caraway in goulash — hungarian goulash seasoned with caraway seeds as a defining spice since medieval times