I stumbled upon a simple recipe for Cumin-Baked Chicken and, in the process of planning to prepare it, started thinking about cumin itself. Cumin is one of the spices that frequently has to be replenished at my house. We like the zip it puts in scrambled eggs and it's a prime ingredient in our chili.
In fact, cumin, which is a standard ingredient in Indian, North African and Latin cooking, is one of the spices that contributes essential flavor to both chili and curry powders. You can buy it ground or in seed form. Roasted seeds have a deep, earthy flavor, while the powder of dried seeds tastes a bit hot.
Much more than that, however, I did not know. I soon found myself leafing through culinary and gardening references, where I found woefully little information.
Part of the problem appears to be that cumin, though a relative of the carrot and parsley, doesn't make the standard lists of recognized herbs. Most of our thinking about culinary herbs comes from the English and continental traditions of gardening and cooking, and cumin is a bit too Third World to make the cut.
Cumin isn't alone in this respect. It's only been in recent years that general knowledge about growing herbs has included the information that coriander and cilantro come from the same plant. Until people began preparing Latin dishes that called for cilantro, coriander seed was the only widely recognized seasoning that the plant produced for general consumption.
Although cumin looks and acts like an herb, Rodale's herb encyclopedia, completely ignores it, as do various cookbooks that emphasize the use of herbs in their recipes. Fleeting references to cumin by some cookbook authors identify cumin as a spice, not an herb. But I disagree.
Cinnamon, which is made from tree bark, and paprika, which is ground from dried peppers, are spices. The distinction between these spices and herbs is clear. However, cumin is, like acknowledged herbs, a seed-producing plant valued for its medicinal, savory or aromatic qualities.
Seeds are available from distributors who specialize in herbs for ethnic cooking. The plant, which grows to a height of 8 to 12 inches and produces a small head of white flowers, requires a long growing season to form seeds that can be used in cooking. Cultivated in this climate, cumin should be started indoors in late winter.
Perhaps cumin will follow the path of cilantro, and enter the North American culinary tradition through Latin cuisine. In Mexican cooking, where it is known as comino, cumin is a common seasoning in sauces and meat dishes.
The recipe for Cumin-Baked Chicken, which came from Allen Susser's "New World Cuisine and Cookery" (Doubleday), pairs cumin and fresh oregano as poultry seasoning. If you don't have fresh oregano, substitute about om tree bark, and paprika, which is ground from dried peppers, are spices. The distinctionalso could be cooked on a rotisserie grill, which would lend it an even more intriguing flavor.
Cumin-Baked Chicken
1 3-pound chicken
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
Cut off the wing tips of the chicken. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Coat the chicken with this mixture, inside and out. Plump the chicken together so the wings and legs are set back toward the bird.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Place the chicken breast side up in a shallow baking dish and set it in the center of the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, then lower the temperature to 325° and continue to bake for 30 minutes more. The chicken should be finished and golden brown after 55 minutes of cooking. Remove from the oven and let it rest in the baking pan for 5 minutes before you cut and serve it.
-- When she's not writing about foods and gardening, Gwyn Mellinger is teaching journalism at Baker University. You can send e-mail to her at mellinger@harvey.bakeru.edu. Her phone number is (785) 594-4554.
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