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A favorite, almost staple, ingredient in rye bread is caraway seeds. Originally from Europe and the Middle East, caraway is now grown in North America. In Germany, this aromatic herb is called kimmel and used to flavor the warm liquor of the same name. Along with other herbs, such as anise, coriander and fennel, caraway is also used in aquavit, a digestive liquor and side drink of choice by Scandinavians when dining on crayfish, smoked eel, and herring. Caraway seeds are also the favorite of Austrians, especially in preparing bread, cakes, pastries and cheeses.
For thousands of years, caraway has been an important cooking ingredient, not only for its fragrance and mildly spicy taste, but also for its medicinal benefits. The whole caraway plant is edible; its feathery leaves and seeds can be dried to make a tea that research has found to help prevent and treat iron-deficiency anemia by facilitating the intestine's iron absorption.
Caraway has been known to be a gas-releasing and anti-spasmodic digestive aid due to its essential oils, which are carvone, carveol, and limonene. These oils make caraway an effective remedy for flatulence, colic, and bloating. In addition, the limonene released when chewing fresh caraway seeds is said to help combat bad breath.
Caraway can be used in cooking in several ways:
1. Add fresh leaves to salads for a hint of flavor.
2. Add fresh or dried seeds to soups, cole slaws, potato salads, and cooked cabbage.
3. Add a teaspoon of seeds to a quart of sour pickles a day before serving, to mimic the flavor of barrel-cured pickles.
4. Boil or bake the caraway taproot and eat as a vegetable.
Here are some tips when storing and cooking with caraway:
1. Dried and ground caraway will keep for as long as two years if kept in airtight containers away from light.
2. Store fresh caraway leaves and taproot in plastic bags inside the refrigerator.
3. To grind caraway, chill the seeds in the freezer an hour before grinding. This will minimize the escape of the essential oils during grinding.
4. Add fresh caraway during the last 15 minutes of cooking; ground caraway in the last 45 minutes. This is recommended because caraway turns bitter with extended cooking.
5. Use ground caraway in making bread and sprinkle the raised dough with caraway seeds just before baking.
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