"DC." > wrote in message
...
> "Wazza" > wrote in message
> ...
> <snip>
> > 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!
>
> Just to throw another seed into the conversation/confusion, I have some
> fennel seeds which look very similar to cumin or caraway seeds but the
taste
> is more like aniseed.
>
yes, DC, fennel and aniseed are often confused, especially in Indian
cookboks. Fennel seed (fruit) is harvested when not quite dried, and has a
green/yellow colour. Because it contains more water than other dried seeds,
it is prone to mildew, for this reason it is often sold roasted. As far as I
am aware, Indians do not use aniseed, it is always fennel.
It is possible to distinguish all these, and more, (e.g. celery seed and
radhuni), even from pictures in books. As far as I can remember, no-one has
it completely right, but Madhur Jaffrey comes closest, IMHO. The problems
come, not from ignorance or mistranslation (mistransliteration?) but in
finding a suitable English word; so channa dhal, a type of yellow pulse, has
been translated into the nearest English equivalent, which is chickpea, but
channa is not the chickpea known in the West/Middle East (as an ingredient
in hummus, for eg) so chickpea flour is not made from chickpeas, its made
from channa. Confusing? If we use the term 'besan flour' we should all know
what we are talking about.
Its because of the confusion I tend to label spices and other ingredients by
their Hindi names. The problem here is that there are several other
languages, not to mention sub-languages in India alone to make the task a
lengthy one, especially as I have over a hundred jars to label!
We will get there in the end (but will we know?)
cheers
Wazza