كراويا

Caraway entered English through Medieval Latin carvi, from Arabic karāwiyā, which may itself derive from Greek káron or kárō. The ultimate origin is uncertain — both Arabic and Greek may have borrowed from an earlier source. What is clear is that the word traveled through Arabic during the medieval spice trade, even though the plant grows wild across Northern Europe and was not an exotic import.

The confusion between caraway and cumin is ancient and persistent. Both are small, crescent-shaped seeds from Apiaceae plants. In many languages, the same word covers both: Norwegian karve, Finnish kumina, Dutch karwij and komijn are close enough to cause persistent confusion. German distinguishes them as Kümmel (caraway) and Kreuzkümmel (cumin, literally 'cross-cumin'). The word kümmel — used for caraway — is obviously the same root as cumin. Two different plants, one tangled name.

Caraway seeds are the flavor of Northern European rye bread. They appear in German sauerkraut, in Austrian cheese, in Scandinavian aquavit, in Hungarian goulash. Kümmel liqueur — flavored with caraway — has been distilled in Germany and the Netherlands since the 1500s. The seed's distinctive flavor — warm, slightly sweet, faintly anise — is one of the defining tastes of Central and Northern European cooking.

Archaeological evidence of caraway use goes back to the Neolithic. Seeds have been found in Swiss lake dwelling sites dating to roughly 3000 BCE. This makes caraway one of the oldest condiments in Europe — older than any surviving recipe, older than any name for it. The people of Bronze Age Europe were seasoning their food with caraway five thousand years ago.