Black caraway

Black caraway is the tiny crescent fruit of Bunium persicum, a wild tuberous perennial of the Apiaceae family that grows on the stony slopes of the Hindu Kush, the Pamir and the Kashmir Himalayas between one thousand five hundred and three thousand five hundred metres. It must not be confused with three unrelated spices that share the «black seed» nickname in the English market: Nigella sativa (kalonji, Ranunculaceae), Carum carvi (European caraway, same family but different genus), and Cuminum cyminum (common cumin). Bunium seed is smaller, darker, more curved and decidedly sweeter than common caraway — the essential oil is dominated by cuminaldehyde at around forty percent supported by gamma-terpinene, para-cymene and beta-pinene, giving a profile between freshly toasted cumin and anise-tinged caraway without the soapy carvone bite. The plant is largely still harvested from the wild: Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan supply the global trade, with Iranian «zira-e-kermani» from Kerman province commanding the highest price. Canonical uses include Persian shirin polow and biryani, Kashmiri rogan josh and yakhni, Afghan kabuli pulao, Tajik plov and Uyghur polu; the seed is almost always dry-toasted whole before it meets rice or meat, and it holds its identity through two hours of slow braising better than any other Apiaceae.