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Cumin

Cumin
Key facts
Similar to fennel and anise seeds, cumin seeds are smaller and darker, although they do look very similar to caraway seeds; the Ancient Greeks kept cumin on the table, much as we use pepper today, a practice that continues in Morocco; cumin is used in a wide range of dishes from salsas, Tex-Mex food and curries to meat casseroles.

These are tiny elongated brown-grey seeds, essential to curries, but also widely used in Mexican, Middle Eastern and Moroccan cooking.

Roasted and ground, they have a warm, earthy flavour that is intensely fragrant. The combination of cumin and allspice in the Tunisian Aubergine Salad recipe is a fine example of the role of spices in cooking.

 
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