20 Graines Cumin, Cuminum cyminum

Cumin, cuminum cyminum |

Cumin, cuminum cyminum

20 seeds

The Cumin (Cuminum Cyminum) is an annual herbaceous plant of the Apiate family (Ombellifères).

The cumin (or cuminum in Latin) is from Near East. He appeared to it as spice, to smoke or to prepare food, since his taste is terrible when not primed. It is from the same family as Persil. The synonyms of this spice are numerous and include the " cumin white ", " cumin du Morocco " or " false anis .

It could be confused with :

• the Cumin des Prés (Carvi) ;
• the Cumin Noir, which comes from plants Nigella Sativa or Bunium Persicum or perhaps Cuminum Nigrum, which has a longer seed than that of our white cumin.

He also has nothing to do with the spice Turmeric.

• Name : cumin white, cumin or even groove
• Growth characteristics :
  • mediterranean and sunny climate with little wet but rich soil
  • annual plant of 30 CM with filiform leaves
  • the seed harvesting is done when the pods are brown
• Form of the plant : Ombellifère (Dicotyledone)
• Fruit characteristics :
  • appears in pairing form on the branches
  • length of 3-6 mm
  • the pattern on the fruit contains nine fine lines and oil channels, with a tuft of hair and oblong shape with elongated ends
  • sell in the form of dried fruits
  • color : Jaune brown
• Composition of the seed :
  • 2.5-4 % essential oil, including :
    • 25-35 % para-isopropyl-benzaldehyde (cumin aldehyde)
    • 21 % Alpha- and Beta-Pinène
    • perillaldehyde, cumin alcohol
    • dipentène, Para-Cymene, Beta-Phellandrene

You can find cumin in North Africa, in the Middle East from which it is probably from and in many hot countries.

The cumin is from the Levant and we have long admitted that the word is of semitic origin. It is attested in akkadian [kamunu], Ugaritic [kmn] and in Phoenician [kmn]; We have in Arabic [kamun] and in Hebrew [kah-MOHN]. In Indo-European languages, we attest in Mycenaean Kumino and Greek to Kuminon ; Latin Cuminum is borrowed from Greek. In French, we find the forms " Cumin ", " Coumin ", " Comin ", " Commin " ... The word figure in fabliaux of the Middle Ages and a menagier gives the recipe for COMINEE de Poulaille, a chicken stew with cumin.

Cumin is probably from the Mediterranean basin in the Nile valley or in theAsia Minor since we can retrace in Egypt its use there is in the minus five thousand years. Among the Egyptians, cumin had medicinal virtues. In addition, the tombs Pharaonic were dotted with cumin seeds by the members of the pharaonic families. The Hebrews even used this seed as a means of tithe in the churches. According to former writings such as the Bible, the cumin served as a currency to pay debts; They also describe the threshing of cumin to the scourge. In Middle Ages, the serfs used it as an exchange currency to get rid of. At that time, the main cumin dish was fish. According to Pliny, it allows you to open its appetite.

In Rome Ancient, this plant was very precious and warned. It was one of the spices sought by explorers during their expeditions to India andNorth Africa, to sow it in the royal gardens. India was the scene of Harems where women drugged by smoking Cardamom, cloves and green grains of cumin. Subsequently, the cumin, still taken like a drug, was placed in a gold leaf orSilver folded and placed in the cheek to mix it with saliva ; Its essential oil is narcotic at high dose. Still in India, the merchants offered cumin grains to snack while the customers looked at the goods offered. Even in Germany, the cumin served as a pledge of fidelity and symbol to prove his loyalty to his fiancé.

It is part of the plants whose culture is recommended in the royal fields by Charlemagne in the chapter of Villis (End of VIII^E or beginning of the IX^e century).

• In the Middle Ages, a small sachet of seeds carried on oneself protected from bad fate and witches.
• In theAntiquity, the cumin was used for doctors and sorcerers of the Egyptian villages and Greek, because it was entered into the composition of drugs to ingest.
• In the Piedmont, at the abstention of the fiancé, to ensure his fidelity, he had to drink a pulverized cumin wine and eat bread with cumin.
• Cumin was used in medicine ; His seed was deemed to facilitate digestion (cf. Boccace, Décaméron, eighth day, new IX: the doctor played). This aperitif spice had a soothing effect against digestive disorders, the colic and the bloating.
• The cumin has always been associated with greed because it was the spice of the rich. The name of Marc Aurélius was even sometimes replaced by Cuminus.

Contents subject to the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license. Source : Article Cumin of Wikipedia in French (Authors)