Cumin is an ancient spice, originating from Asia. Today it can be found all over the world. There are vast plantations in Chile, Morocco, Syria, India and other countries.
This traditional spice is widely used in the favorite dishes of the Balkan countries. Most frequently it is added to the local dishes and kebab and meatballs. All homemade sausages, dried sausages and sujuk are seasoned with cumin.
Besides adding it to the mince for meatballs and kebab, cumin is also added to almost all mince dishes, such as sarma and stuffed peppers. It provides its strong and specific flavor to every dish.
Of course, cumin is a spice most typical of Indian cuisine. It corresponds well with the other spices present in it.
In general it goes well with almost all spices. Because of this, it is the perfect ingredient for a number of spice blends. Cumin is a component of curry, as well as the exotic spice garam masala.
In Middle Eastern cuisine, cumin is most often used in combination with mustard seeds, zaatar, caraway, coriander and Turkish cayenne pepper.
Besides in Indian, Latin American and Middle Eastern cuisine, cumin is also used in Mexican cuisine. It is added to one of the most popular foods there - tacos.
In different countries, cumin is combined with different spices, but as already mentioned, it goes well with all of them. In Latin American cuisine, they add chili, cinnamon, oregano, asafoetida to it, while in Mexican cuisine - they add it to chili sauce, spicy cayenne pepper, powdered chili and so on.
In other countries, cumin is also used in meatless and meat dishes. Before adding cumin to any dish, it is good to braise it in oil in advance. This will maximally bring out its rich flavor.
