Buy this item and earn 13 points valued at $0.26.

Cumin is native to the Levant and Upper Egypt. It now grows in most hot countries, especially India, North Africa, China and the Americas. The spice is especially associated with Morocco, where it is often smelt in the abundant street cookery of the medinas. In Indian recipes, cumin is frequently confused with caraway, which it resembles in appearance though not in taste, cumin being far more powerful. This is due to a misunderstanding of the Indian word jeera. The term usually means cumin, but can occasionally mean caraway, so in doubtful cases, cumin is generally to be understood. The use of the terms ‘black cumin’ for nigella, and 'sweet cumin' for aniseed or fennel, further confounds this confusion.



We are you #1 connection for wholesale gourmet cooking spices. Looking for some great bulk spices then look no further then here with over 700 specialty herbs and spices for all your culinary needs. Our spices are used by top chefs around the world!

Spice Description
Cumin is the seed of a small plant. The seeds come as paired or separate carpels, and are 3-6mm (1/8-1/4 in) long. They have a striped pattern of nine ridges and oil canals, and are hairy, brownish in color, boat-shaped, tapering at each extremity, with tiny stalks attached. They resemble caraway seeds, but are lighter in color and unlike caraway, have minute bristles hardly visible to the naked eye. They are available dried, or ground to a brownish-green powder. Cumin is freely available in the West, although it is not a traditional European spice. Bouquet: Strong, heavy and warm. A spicy-sweet aroma. Flavor: Pungent, powerful, sharp and slightly bitter. Hotness Scale: 3

Preparation and Storage
The seeds should be lightly roasted before being used whole or ground to bring out the aroma. Cumin may also be pounded with other spices in mixtures such as curry powder. Ground cumin must be kept airtight, to retain its pungency. This spice should be used with restraint - it can exclude all the other flavors in a dish. Less than a teaspoon of it will flavor a meal for four.

Culinary Uses
Cumin is used mainly where highly spiced foods are preferred. It features in Indian, Eastern, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Portuguese and Spanish cookery. It is an ingredient of most curry powders and many savory spice mixtures, and is used in stews, grills - especially lamb - and chicken dishes. It gives bite to plain rice, and to beans and cakes. Small amounts can be usefully used in aubergine and kidney bean dishes. Cumin is essential in spicy Mexican foods such as chili con carne, casseroled pork and enchiladas with chili sauce. In Europe, cumin flavors certain Portuguese sausages, and is used to spice cheese, especially Dutch Leyden and German Munster, and burned with woods to smoke cheeses and meats. It is a pickling ingredient for cabbage and Sauerkraut, and is used in chutneys. In the Middle East, it is a familiar spice for fish dishes, grills and stews and flavors couscous - semolina steamed over meat and vegetables, the national dish of Morocco. Zeera pani is a refreshing and appetizing Indian drink made from cumin and tamarind water. Cumin together with caraway flavors Kummel, the famous German liquor.

Packed Fresh To Order In Our Flavor Savor Foil Bags! Florida Herb House guarantees the best herbs and spices all year round!