A delicate plant, Carum carvi, used chiefly for its aromatic seeds, although the root and leaves are also edible. Caraway seeds have been around since the Stone Age, when they were used to flavor food. They were found in Switzerland 8,000 years ago, and were well known to the Greeks, Romans and Egyptian priest-physicians from before the writing of the book of Exodus. Caraway is mentioned in ancient Arab and Byzantine writings, as well as in texts from the Middle Ages, mostly extolling the virtues of its positive medicinal effect on digestion, flatulence and the internal organs. Nicholas Culpeper, the 17th-century English botanist, says of it, "Caraway comfits once only dipped in sugar syrup and a spoonful of them eaten in the morning fasting and as many after meals, is a most admirable remedy for those that are troubled by wind."
The folklore of caraway claims it to have the gift of retention, preventing the theft of any object that contains it, holding the thief in custody within the invaded house. Similarly, it was thought to keep lovers from proving fickle (forming an ingredient in "love potions") and also to prevent fowls from straying. At the time of Henry VIII, it was called Herba-barona, because it was used to flavor the huge barons of beef. The leaves flavor soups and stews, the roots can be cooked as a vegetable, and the strongly flavored seeds are used in cakes and breads, or to spice cabbage, cheese, sausages and sauerkraut. Chewing the digestive seeds helps ease heartburn and, if infused, reduce colic.
