Talk:Cumin

Name

The text currently says:

The name cumin is a distortion of the Persian city Kerman, 
where most of ancient Persia's cumin was produced. For the Persians the 
expression "carrying cumin to Kerman" is the same as the [[English 
language]] phrase "carrying coals to Newcastle." Kerman, locally 
called Kermun, became Kumun and then cumin in the European languages.

This is highly unlikely, and I suspect it is a folk etymology. The name "cumin" (in various forms) is attested in many, many ancient languages going all the way back to Sumerian![1] Granted, Kerman does suggest that the city has a long history, but I don't think the ultimate origin of the spice plant can clearly be traced to the Persian city, and certainly not to the modern dialect pronunciation. --Iustinus 21:20, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Your link takes one to bartleby.com, which is completely unhelpful. I tend to doubt there is any mention of this spice in the Sumerian administrative records in cuneiform. HammerFilmFan (talk) 11:45, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

2nd most popular spice in world?

Penzeys Spices claims that cumin is the second most popular spice in the world (after black pepper). (http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyscumin.html) Anyone know anything about this claim? It would be interesting to add if it can be verified. --JdwNYC 00:21, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

"native to the eastern Mediterranean region east to India." ????

The eastern Mediterraneum is not east to India!!!!

Are you serious? The wording may be awkward, but it clearly means FROM the easter Med TO east India.--171.161.160.10 16:43, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Geographical bias??

This phrase: Their smell can also be detected in the eater's sweat even after consuming only small amounts. (citation-needed) was removed on 11 Oct by Abossone (talk · contribs) with the following edit summary: his violates wikipedia's policy of preventing geographic bias.. I fail to see how this is a geographical bias after reading Wikipedia:Neutral point of view/Examples. Apparently the remover thought it was POV. Would it also be POV to say that the smell of a smoker or drinker is noticeable by someone who doesn't? I hardly think so. I'm actually not sure whether or not cumin does cause a smell, but Abossone apparently thought that it is, but worded in a way that is denigrating to cumin eaters. Could Abossone please clarify why this is POV so that we can find an alternative NPOV wording? Han-Kwang 00:01, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

I tried to reformat the above entry so it would show the entire thing, because I want to talk about it. Any page-wizards know why it all went on one line, and/or how to fix it?

It is entirely true that the fragrance of cumin is released through the pores. I like that about cumin. Any reason not to include a sentence about this phenomenon? Eleven even (talk) 00:54, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Fix done —αlεx•mullεr 00:58, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

hallucinogen?

I removed it due to lack of refutable evidence. So source, links, etc please. Likewise the formating for that part was improper. 60.234.236.149 03:44, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

"cumin cider"

This is a pun, folks. "Cumin cider" = "cum inside her."

This vandalism has survived over a year in the article, and unfortunately a quick google search shows that it has spread into other articles that use wikipedia as their only reference.

Cumin tea is a real use of cumin and appears to be traditional in Latino cultures, especially as an aid in inducing pregnancy. But the process of seeping cumin seeds in boiling water is entirely different from the various ways of producing fruit beverages known as cider. So different that "cumin cider" seems more likely to be a sophomoric prank than to be a legitimate colloquialism.

In absence of any valid citation, the line about cumin cider should be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.73.243.231 (talk) 18:37, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

Rewrite

The section "cultivation and uses" needs a rewrite. Much information appears twice. OliAtlason (talk) 02:56, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Medicinal Uses

Why was this section deleted? Nolween (talk) 14:56, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

Uses - it does what?

Uses, para 2, line 1: "Cumin can be used to season many dishes...as it draws out their natural sweetnesses." Beyond spelling ("sweetnesses" is not a word), what exactly does this spice do? Does it "draw out" to enhance the flavour, or "draw out" the flavour to eliminate it? Since the paragraph is talking about "hot" food ("...chili, curries...) I am assuming it eliminates sweet tastes making hot flavours even hotter, but ass + u + etc.... 71.234.215.133 (talk) 14:09, 23 October 2009 (UTC)

Confusion with other spices

== add == Cumin is not to be confused with the spice curcumin (from turmeric).

XENOPHOBIC PREJUDICE? :)

In part 7 of the article the author (what's his or her name, nationality?) asserts: "in Czech caraway is called 'kmín' while cumin is called 'římský kmín' or "Roman caraway". The distinction is practically the same in Hungarian ("kömény" for caraway and "római kömény" [Roman caraway] for cumin). In Polish the difference is even less significant- caraway is 'kminek' and cumin is 'kmin rzymski', which is even more confusing as 'kminek' is a diminutive of 'kmin' (notice the -ek suffix, as in 'kot' - a cat and 'kotek' - a small cat). In Swedish, caraway is called "kummin" while cumin is "spiskummin", from the Swedish word "spisa", to eat, while in German "Kümmel" stands for caraway and "Kreuzkümmel" denotes cumin."

- On what factual grounds do you assert that in Polish the difference between the names for cumin and caraway is "even less significant" than in other languages? If e.g. in Czech caraway is called "kmin," and cumin is called "rimsky kmin", and in Polish cumin is called "kmin rzymski" and caraway is called "kminek," it follows that the Polish names for the two plants are more diversified than the Czech (and Hungarian) names. Consequently, the difference between the Polish names in question is more significant than the difference between the Czech, Hungarian (and also Swedish and German) names. Aren't you lying when you suggest that the Polish names for cumin and caraway are less diversified and more confusing than in other languages?82.132.136.200 (talk) 14:26, 12 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.132.136.200 (talk) 14:18, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

Mexico

Under "Uses" it states:

"Cumin seeds are used as a spice for their distinctive aroma, popular in [...] Northern Mexican cuisines"

and later

"It is not common in Mexican cuisine." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.182.49.156 (talk) 11:47, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Pronoun ambiguity

Under the category "Uses": "Cumin can be used ground or as whole seeds, as it draws out their natural sweetnesses." Should be "sweetness", but that aside, who or what is being referred to by the pronoun "it"? Being groung? Or left whole?

Perhaps the author meant: "Cumin can be used ground or as whole seeds, as cooking will bring out its natural sweetness"? Or: "Cumin can be used ground, which brings out its natural sweetness, or as whole seeds"? Or?

-Kevin Pfeiffer —Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.0.17.193 (talk) 19:12, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

Etymology

The whole section needs a good clean up... The Cat and the Owl (talk) 21:43, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

Swedish Etymology

Is there any reference that shows that the Swedish term "spiskummin" is a mixture of the unusual word "spisa" (to eat) and "kummin"? In Danish, where the word "spise" (to eat) is commonly used, the spice is called "spidskommen" meaning "pointed cumin." As the languages typically share etymology, especially for things that were commonly traded, I suspect that the "spis" in "spiskummin" relates to "spids" or the Swedish "spets" rather than "spisa." 95.209.38.37 (talk) 10:21, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

I don't really have anything to add. I just checked in to make the same comment about the Swedish term. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Taxlady (talk • contribs) 02:33, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

Fixed, based on a source stating "Spis är en försvenskning av tyskans Speis(e), som betyder ‘mat’" --Jrc (talk) 12:41, 8 September 2015 (UTC)

References in popular culture

I'm deleting this whole section as the content is irrelevant to 99.999% of people who will read the article. It adds nothing to our knowledge and understanding of cumin, and raises the erroneous suggestion that cumin causes allergic reactions. There must be hundreds of more relevant cultural references in Asian and European poetry and recipe books. Melba1 (talk) 02:31, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Suspect Maths/Assumptions

"The main producer and consumer of cumin is India. It produces 70% of the world supply and consumes 90% of that (which means that India consumes 63% of the world's cumin)."

The statement in brackets is only true if India does not import any cumin, which seems highly unlikely to me. I'd suggest removing the bracketed statement unless a source can be found for the assertion that India doesn't import any cumin. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dichohecho (talk • contribs) 13:06, 14 January 2016 (UTC)

External links modified

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The search function for the USDA database doesn't provide any satisfaction for obtaining information on the nutritional profile of ground cumin. All the results for cumin powder go to manufacturers with limited data shown. I wasn't able to find any source for the statement in the article. --Zefr (talk) 19:02, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

Etymology

This section below was removed as not novel, with non-English content. The etymology of cumin is sufficiently represented without it. --Zefr (talk) 02:13, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

What does "not novel" mean? The possible earliest occurrence of a related word meaning "cumin", that may be the ultimate origin of the English word, is relevant, in my opinion. — Eru·tuon 02:18, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

"Novel" in that the existing article content and references cover the origins. There is no new information added by the removed text or sources. The Hebrew, Arabic and Sumerian sources are conjecture, with unclear sourcing. --Zefr (talk) 03:33, 8 January 2017 (UTC)

Removed text and references.

Hebrew kammon (כמון) and Arabic kammūn (‏كمون‎). The earliest attested form of the word in Greek is the Mycenaean 𐀓𐀖𐀜, ku-mi-no, written in Linear B syllabic script. The word kamūnu is attested even earlier in Akkadian, and the ultimate source may be the Sumerian word gamun.

References

Reputable sources

This revert was justified because 1) Phytotherapy Research is not a reputable journal where high-quality clinical research is reported, and therefore should not be cited in the lede as a main reference indicating clinically-relevant effects of cumin (which are not supported in the general medical literature, failing WP:MEDRS), 2) cumin is a different plant and extract from the seeds of Cuminum cyminum (like parsley), not from turmeric and curcumin (Curcuma longa) which was the subject of this source used in the reverted edit. Further, Drugs.com is a reputable source for the chemistry and clinical background of compounds, and is used in many Wikipedia articles on non-proprietary compounds like cumin and turmeric/curcumin. Zefr (talk) 17:27, 4 November 2021 (UTC)

Not reputable according to whom? You? Did you throughly research the credibility of this journal or are you just making it up to suit your tastes? 2600:1700:448D:BC10:C08D:CED2:EDAA:3983 (talk) 19:08, 24 February 2024 (UTC)

WP:MEDASSESS and absence of scientific agreement on the findings. No international clinical guideline, review in a reputable clinical journal, or national regulatory agency supports the concept of cumin as a lipid-lowering or anti-obesity therapeutic. The content is readily disputable with poor design and control of the studies assessed, and is WP:UNDUE. Zefr (talk) 22:24, 24 February 2024 (UTC)