On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 795

European cooking during the Middle Ages,
thoughtheSpanishkeptitlongenoughtohelp
it take root in Mexican cooking. The Dutch
still make a cumin-flavored cheese, and the
SavoieFrenchacuminbread,butcuminnow
mainly marks the foods of North Africa,
western Asia, India, and Mexico. Its
distinctive aroma comes from an unusual
chemical (cuminaldehyde) that is related to
the essence of bitter almond (benzaldehyde).
Italsohasfreshandpinenotes.
TheFlavorofAnise
The volatile chemical that creates the
typical aroma of anise — as well as of
fennel, star anise, the Central American
pepper relativePiper marginatum, and the
herb sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata) — is
calledtransanethole.Itisoneofagroupof
compounds that are not only distinctively
aromatic, but also intensely sweet — 13
times sweeter than table sugar, weight for


weight.StaraniseischewedinChina,and
fennel seed in India, to “sweeten the
breath,” and they are also literally sweet
for the person chewing. A related sweet
aromatic is estragole (methyl chavicol),
whichismostprominentinsweetbasiland
tarragon.
Anethole is unusual among phenolic

flavor compounds for remaining pleasant
tothetasteathighconcentrations.Itsvery
high concentration in anise-flavored
liquors is the reason for the dramatic
cloudingthatresultswhentheseliquorsare
diluted with water: anethole dissolves in
alcoholbutnotinwater,sowhentheadded
water dilutes the alcohol, the anethole
molecules cluster together in bunches big
enoughtoscatterlight.
Blackcuministheseedofadifferent
species(Cuminumnigrum),darkerand
smaller,withlesscuminaldehydeandamore
complexaroma.Itismuchusedinsavory