Flavor Profile: Cumin

Cumin is one of the oldest and most widely used spices in the world. It's used in Chinese, Indian, Cuban, Southeast Asian, North African, Latin American and Middle Eastern foods, just to name a few. It's also very popular in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine. (Fun fact: over a third of the items on Chipotle's menu feature cumin.)

The cumin plant is closely related to parsley, caraway and dill. Both the whole seeds and ground cumin can add nutty warmth, pepperiness and smokiness with a faintly musty aroma to all manner of dishes. It's also often used as an ingredient in chili or curry powders and other spice blends like garam masala. Our recipes below feature both ground cumin and cumin seeds for a pronounced punch of delicious flavor.

DID YOU KNOW? In modern Morocco, as it was in ancient Greece, ground cumin is found at the serving table with salt in place of pepper.

Tasty Tip:

Warming cumin will impart more flavor. When used in dishes like sautés or curries, warm the seeds or the ground spice in the pan early in the cooking process. Either can be warmed or toasted in a dry pan or cooked in oil over low to medium heat. As little as 30 seconds will add meaningful depth of flavor to any recipe that calls for this spectacular spice.