Caraway Seed

Caraway Seed: History and Complete Culinary Guide

Caraway (Carum carvi) is a biennial plant of the parsley family producing small, ribbed seeds with a distinctly earthy, anise-adjacent flavour — warm, aromatic, and slightly bitter. It is one of the oldest spices in northern and central European cooking, with evidence of use dating back five thousand years. Caraway seeds are the defining flavour of rye bread — the aromatic seeds embedded throughout dark rye loaves that are the bread tradition of Germany, Scandinavia, the Baltic states, Poland, and Russia. They flavour sauerkraut, caraway cheese (nøkkelost, tilsiter with caraway), and the liqueur Kümmel. In Moroccan and North African cooking, caraway appears in harissa and various spice blends. The essential oil compound carvone is responsible for caraway's characteristic flavour — the same compound gives dill seed its distinctive character (both S-carvone and R-carvone are mirror-image molecules with perceptibly different characters: caraway's version is more pungent and earthy, dill's more herbaceous).

Culinary Uses

Add caraway seeds to rye bread dough before baking — a traditional and irresistible combination. Stir into sauerkraut and braised red cabbage. Use in Hungarian goulash (caraway is a defining spice). Season pork before roasting with caraway and garlic. Use in German potato dishes and lentil soups. Add to cheese (classic in Austrian and German traditions). Use in spiced bread rolls and pretzels. Caraway pairs with pork, cabbage, rye, beetroot, and beer.