Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Caraway along with all the Caraway containing recipes presented on this site, with 145 recipes in total.

These recipes, all contain Caraway as a major wild food ingredient.

Caraway, Carum carvi, is a biennial plant in the Apiaceae (umbellifera, carrot) family and is a native to Europe and western Asia. The plant is similar in appearance to a carrot plant, with finely divided, feathery leaves with thread-like divisions, growing on 20-30 cm stems. The main flower stem is 40-60 cm tall, with small white or pink flowers in umbels. Caraway fruit are are crescent-shaped achenes, around 2 mm long, with five pale ridges. The plants prefers warm, sunny locations and well-drained soil. They are fairly rare in the wild in Britain (except in the Southeast) but can easily be grown from commercial seed.

Caraway seed is used throughout Europe to flavour pickles and breads and in the past the root was dried and ground to form flour. Indeed, Julius Caesar's army in Gaul were fed on a bread made from Caraway root flour.

The leaves, root and seed of the plant are all edible. The seeds are spicy in flavour and have, traditionally, been used as a flavouring for confectionary, pickles and bread. They are also used to flavour salads and vegetables. The young leaves are less spicy than the seeds, having a dill-like quality, and make an excellent base to a salad. Older leaves can be steamed or boiled and served like a spinach. The root can be cooked and have a strong parsnip-like taste and make a delicious vegetable.

The crushed seeds can be brewed into a tea. The seeds are also traditionally chewed after a meal to sweeten the breath.

References:

[1]. David Evans Notes from field observations, tastings and cookery experiments.
[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1999
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–12.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants, 2004
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland, 2011
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) — How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland, 2006
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles, 1983
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles, 1987
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms, 2006
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms, 2011
[12]. Bunker, F. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland, Second Edition, 2017
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia II — A Source Book of Edible Plants, 1998
[14]. Hartford, R. Edible and Medicinal Wild Plants of Britain and Ireland: A Foraging and Photographic Identification Guide
(Note that the above book links are Amazon Affiliate links)