This sweet pepper, forerunner of the various cultivated forms of the present day, is probably native to Colombia and may still be found in South and Central America. It differs from the cultivated sorts by having small deciduous fruits. The dried and ground ripe berries are used for seasoning, especially those of the red forms with long, pointed fruits. The berries of the blunt-tipped forms and plump, tomato-like fleshy-walled peppers arc harvested before they are ripe and eaten raw in salads or braised, roasted or preserved as a vegetable.
The fruits are generally dried in the sun, becoming wrinkled during the process and turning dark red to orange red. The dried fruits, with calyces removed, are ground to yield cayenne pepper, so named after the port of Cayenne, chief town of French Guiana.
The plant is native to tropical America and must have been grown there long before the discovery of the New World, as it has been found in ancient Peruvian graves. The Spaniards and Portuguese who discovered this seasoning on their voyages and introdpced it to Europe called it `Indian pepper'.
According to medieval tradition, chopped fresh leaves are added to soups and salads. Caraway may also be used in powdered form, but it must be ground just before being used so the fragrant essential oil does not evaporate.
Caraway is a biennial plant indigenous to a wide area embracing almost all of Europe and Asia. Because of its large consumption it is nowadays grown as a field crop throughout most of Europe as well as in Asia and north Africa. It does not tolerate wet, heavy clay soils.
The seeds are sown in spring about 2 cm deep in drills 40 cm (16 in) apart. It is harvested the second year in late summer when two-thirds of the fruits have ripened. The cut plants are tied into sheaves and left in the field until they are dry and fully ripened, after which they are threshed to obtain the seeds. The seeds - achenes (1) - are usually dried by natural heat. Caraway growing wild in the meadow is just as good for flavouring as the cultivated form. - 15266
The fruits are generally dried in the sun, becoming wrinkled during the process and turning dark red to orange red. The dried fruits, with calyces removed, are ground to yield cayenne pepper, so named after the port of Cayenne, chief town of French Guiana.
The plant is native to tropical America and must have been grown there long before the discovery of the New World, as it has been found in ancient Peruvian graves. The Spaniards and Portuguese who discovered this seasoning on their voyages and introdpced it to Europe called it `Indian pepper'.
According to medieval tradition, chopped fresh leaves are added to soups and salads. Caraway may also be used in powdered form, but it must be ground just before being used so the fragrant essential oil does not evaporate.
Caraway is a biennial plant indigenous to a wide area embracing almost all of Europe and Asia. Because of its large consumption it is nowadays grown as a field crop throughout most of Europe as well as in Asia and north Africa. It does not tolerate wet, heavy clay soils.
The seeds are sown in spring about 2 cm deep in drills 40 cm (16 in) apart. It is harvested the second year in late summer when two-thirds of the fruits have ripened. The cut plants are tied into sheaves and left in the field until they are dry and fully ripened, after which they are threshed to obtain the seeds. The seeds - achenes (1) - are usually dried by natural heat. Caraway growing wild in the meadow is just as good for flavouring as the cultivated form. - 15266
