Cumin Tincture & Alcohol-Free Extract

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) is a slender annual of the carrot family, Apiaceae, native to the eastern Mediterranean and southwest Asia, grown in Egypt since the time of the pharaohs and today mainly in India, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. It grows only 20 to 40 centimeters with thread-like, blue-green leaves and small umbels of white or pink flowers in early summer. The fruits, sold as cumin seed, are tapered, ridged, yellow-brown ovals 4 to 6 millimeters long covered in fine bristles, easily confused with caraway but straighter and paler; their warm, earthy, pungent aroma comes from cuminaldehyde and defines Indian, Mexican, and Middle Eastern cooking. We extract the dried seed.