Aromatics · Cu

Cumin

Cuminaldehyde · fat soluble

Per 100 g

375 kcal Energy

17.8 g Protein

44.2 g Carbs

22.3 g Fat

10.5 g Fibre

Gluten-free

Let’s cook with it → Invent something with it

What it is for

They give the character. Same technique, same ingredient, a different trio of spices — and the dish moves to another cuisine entirely. Most of their aroma molecules are volatile.

Where it catches you out

Volatile ones go in last, sturdy ones first. Mint and basil after the heat; bay and cinnamon right at the start.

The knack

Bloom it in fat for thirty seconds; thrown in dry it just tastes of powder.

Storage and health

How to keep it, and who it suits.

Keeping it

Whole seed keeps 3-4 years airtight in the dark, ground about six months. Once the aroma fades it is gone, and adding more does not bring it back.

Gluten-free

Plain cumin is a single-plant spice with no gluten.

Glycaemic index

This ingredient carries no meaningful carbohydrate, so it has no glycaemic index. On its own it will not move blood sugar; what you eat alongside it decides that.

What it works with

Pairings, and the reason for each

"They go well together" is not an explanation. Every pairing below has a chemical or structural mechanism under it.

Butter →

Cuminaldehyde is lipophilic, so blooming in butter or oil extracts it into a medium that distributes evenly. Stirred dry into a water-based stew, most of it never disperses.

Lentil →

Cumin’s strong terpene profile covers the beany aldehydes from legume lipoxygenase activity — a genuinely functional pairing.

Also works with

Red meat

Chickpea

Bulgur

Tomato paste

Olive oil

Carrot

What goes on top

Ground cumin dusted over hummus and grilled meat; into the butter for lentil soup

Key compounds

Kuminaldehit: 25–35% of the essential oil — the signature.
Pirazinler: Formed only on toasting via Maillard: toasted and raw cumin are chemically different spices.

Nutritionally

Cumin’s per-100 g iron figure is often quoted and is misleading: a teaspoon is about 2 g, so its mineral contribution is trivial.

Terms on this page

Maillard: Protein meeting sugar above 140 °C to produce crust, colour and that roasted smell.

Where it turns up

What is made with it

1 dishes in the database use it.

Preserving & fermentation 1

Antakya sürk

The most heavily spiced member of the çökelek family. The curd is kneaded with pepper paste and a broad spice battery led by wild thyme, then formed into cones and matured.

Hatay

Quick ideas