Condiments, Spices and Flavors

by Mary Elizabeth Green

Grains of Paradise are the dried seeds of a reed-like plant allied to the ginger family and indigenous to western Africa. The fruit which contains the seeds is four or five inches in length and of a bright red color. The seed are now never used, excepting occasionally by brewers. Formerly they were esteemed as a spice for cookery and were one of the ingredients of the famous Norwich herring pies of old England. In flavor they are extremely hot and pungent.

Anise is a little annual of the order umbelliferæ and scarcely more than a foot in height. It is indigenous to Europe, although cultivated in many of the northern Mediterranean countries. The seeds are powerful aromatics, used both medicinally and in the preparation of a liqueur called “anisette,” which is to the Italians what kümmel is to the Germans. The star anise is a tree allied to the magnolias, the seeds of which are stronger and less pleasant of flavor than those of the common anise. They are called star aniseed from the star-like shape of the fruit. The anise mentioned in the New Testament as part of the tithes is a different plant, believed to be dill.

Dill is a small herb, native to Spain, which produces umbelliferous stalks of yellow flowers. It is still cultivated in portions of temperate Europe. An aromatic oil is extracted from the tiny seeds which are also used, whole, for flavoring pickles.

Caraway.

Caraway is also an umbelliferous plant growing wild in the meadows and pastures of both Europe and Asia. It is cultivated for its mildly aromatic seeds, although in the northern countries of Europe the root, which resembles the parsnip, is also eaten. No aromatic of temperate climates is more common than the dainty, white-blooming plant growing in the kitchen gardens of both hemispheres. Its seeds are used for the spicing of cheese, cakes and candies, and in Germany in the rye bread called “kümmel-brod,” which is universally eaten. The seeds are also used in the making of an aromatic cordial called “kümmel.”

Basil is not now used as extensively in cooking as formerly. Its native haunts are India and Persia, although since it yields gracefully to culture, it is to be found in many old-fashioned kitchen gardens. Its aromatic properties are similar to those of other garden herbs.

Basil.

Chervil is an umbelliferous annual possessing aromatic leaves and somewhat resembling parsley in flavor. It is used in Europe as a pot-herb for soups and stews, but is chiefly known in America as one of the obsolete delicacies which deserve to be still popular. The root, which is fleshy and fusiform in shape, is cooked and eaten by the people of southern Europe.