A Slice of Seed Cake

Using caraway has a long history in Europe. Apparently native to Asia and Europe, it often turns up near old monasteries where it was grown as a treatment for flatulence. It is a great digestive aid, and has also been used medicinally as a diuretic and a poultice for bad bruising. The foliage can be eaten as spring greens, and like many of the carrot family to which it belongs, it produces an edible root. Caraway is also made into a liqueur in Germany known as Kümmel.

The name is a bit of a puzzle. “Kmin” in Czech, “Kommen” in Danish, “Kminek” in Polish, “Kümmich” in German – all derive from the Latin word for cumin, which is a different spice, but “Caraway” is derived from the plant’s Latin name Carum carvi.

It is a pretty plant, with abundant, feathery foliage and spicy white flowers in umbels in summer. Leave the flowers on to get the oil-rich seeds. I make seed cake with them, adding them to a basic Madeira mixture, but occasionally get complaints about them sticking in people’s teeth! You can get round this in part by grinding the seeds with mortar and pestle. Since getting such a serious craving for it, I throw a few seeds into almost any savoury or sweet dish. Try adding caraway to sautéed carrots or shredded cabbage with butter. Combine with dried herbs in cheese and herb scones. Caraway doesn’t work well with many spices, but I find it good with freshly ground coriander, and can be added to curries.

It’s easy to grow, though seed takes a while to germinate. It’s usually biennial, flowering in the second year, but occasionally will keep going longer (I had one plant for five years), in which case it can be readily divided.

Caraway is reputed to keep lovers from straying when used in a love potion, and to control wayward poultry that won’t stay in the coop. I have recently acquired some bantam pullets who insist on sleeping at the top of a very tall fir tree instead of in their comfy shed – I must share the next batch of failed rye bread with them!

One thing’s for sure. I should have got the larger size of Kmin pot.

© Margaret Lear

www.plantswithpurpose.co.uk