"James Silverton" > wrote in message
...
> DC. wrote:
> > "Philippe Lemaire (remove oldies)"
> > >
> > wrote in message
> > ...
> > <snip>
> >> I meant : by reading the bag, you cannot be sure of what you
> >> buy...
> >>
> >> Philippe
> >
> > Try here philippe,
> > http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/ they
> > look the same but maybe some of the information might help.
> >
> > DC.
>
> And just to complicate things, there are recipes mostly
> mediterranean that use both cumin and caraway!
>
> For example:
> http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/sp...n/tunisia.html
>
> La Tunisia Chicken & Grilled Onions.
>
> I never realised how involved the subject was (tho' Katzer
> does!)
>
>
yep, Jim, Katzer and I have exchanged e-mails over cumin (we agreed that
caraway was not to be found in Indian cooking)

To tell the difference between cumin and caraway is not easy for the
uninitiated, but caraway usually has more pronounced stripes down the edge
of the fruit (commonly called the seed). I find the taste of caraway
objectionable, though liked it in bread in Prague, when I first thought it
was mint!

There are several spices that are difficult to differentiate, for the
unwary, like bay leaves (you call them laurel) and cinnamon leaves (tej
patta), or cinnamon and cassia (most of the so-called cinnamon sold in the
US is infact cassia!). Caraway is often confused with black cumin, nigella
with onion seeds, carom with lovage seeds, and so on. It isn't easy, but it
is possible.
Salute, Philippe
Wazza