The caraway plant has a branching stem 2 or 3 ft. high, with finely
divided leaves and dense umbels of white or pinkish white flowers. The
leaves are frequently used to flavor soup and the roots, which taper
like a parsnip, and when young are boiled and eaten as a vegetable.
The seeds are oblong, pointed at both ends, thickest in the middle,
striated on the surface and of a crescent shape, they have an aromatic
smell and warm, pungent taste. From the seeds is obtained a volatile
oil called oil of caraway, of a pale yellow color which turns dark with
age; it is frequently adulterated with oil of cumin. After the oil
has been extracted the seeds are called “drawn caraways,” and by way
of deception are often mixed with good caraway seeds. They can be told
by their shrunken, dark appearance. The color of the English caraway
seeds is a deep brown, those of Germany and Holland are larger and of a
light blue-brown color, while those from Russia, Poland and Bohemia are
small, of a blackish brown color, and mixed with a good deal of dirt.
There is a variety of a light brown color, about twice the size of the
English caraways, imported from Mogador.
Caraway seeds and oil are used medicinally, as a flavoring by bakers
and confectioners, in compounding various liquors, particularly that
known as Kummel, and in making Scotch cavie, or caraway, comfits; for
this purpose the seeds are coated with sugar and colored red, pink,
blue, yellow, etc.
Coriander.
The word “coriander” is derived from the Greek word Koriannon, a
bed-bug, referring to the disagreeable smell of the whole plant when
fresh, but the ripe and perfectly dried fruit has an agreeable smell
and a sweetish, aromatic taste. Its an annual or bi-annual plant, of
the genus Umbelliferce, native of South Europe, with a branching stem
1 or 2 ft. high. The lower leaves bipennate, the upper ones being
more compounded and divided into very narrow divisions. The fruit
is globose, containing round slightly ribbed or ridged seeds, about
as large as black pepper, very light, of a yellowish brown or straw
color externally; inside the husk of each seed are two closely fitting
hemispherical mericarps.
The seeds are used in medicine as a carminative. They cover the taste
of senna leaves better than any other substance; are occasionally mixed
with curry powder; in domestic economy they are used by confectioners
and bakers as flavorings, being often mixed with bread in the north of
Europe. A cordial is made from them, and they are used for flavoring
spirituous liquors, particularly gin.
Cardamons.
Cardamons consist of the seeds of two species of plants, the Elettaria
of Malabar and the Amomon of China, Guinea and other parts of the East
Indies. As the seeds of the two species differ in some respects we
will describe the Ellettaria kind. The plant, which grows 5 to 10 ft.
high, has a reed-like habit and bear long, loose racemes of flowers,
succeeded by triangular capsules, of a dirty white color, containing a
number of dark brown, angular seeds about the size of mustard seeds.
The capsules or fruits, which vary from ½ in. to 2 in. in length, are
collected from wild plants and also from plantations, the latter being
generally laid out in partially cleared forests in which the wild
plants are known to occur. When about 3 years old the plants begin to
bear. The capsules do not all ripen at the same time, and the harvest
lasts for nearly two months. The capsules are gathered before they are
ripe and then cured in the sun, after which the stalks and remains
of flowers are carefully removed by means of scissors. They are then
graded into “shorts,” “short-longs,” and “long-longs,” according to
their length; sometimes they are mixed and classed as lesser or greater
cardamons. Cardamon seeds are exported in the capsules in order to
prevent adulteration. The seeds have a very delicate aroma and are
slightly pungent. They were well known to the ancients, and are used
at present in medicine, particularly in veterinary practice, also in
flavoring culinary sauces, soups, curries, cordials, pastry, and for
imparting a factitious strength to vinegar, beer, wines and spirits,
especially gin; their use creates a thirst. The seeds depend for their
quality on a pungent essential oil, of which they contain about 3 per
cent, called oil of cardamons; they also contain about 10 per cent of
a fixed oil. The seeds of the “Amomum” species of cardamons are bright
black in color outside, white inside and small and angular in shape;
they are slightly aromatic, very hot and pungent.
Cardamons are known as grains of Paradise, Melegueta pepper, Guinea
grains and Guinea pepper.