[Sca-cooks] Is this nigella?

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

>Also sprach Stefan li Rous:
>  >Help! I bought several items this past Pennsic from the Pepperer's
>  >Guild. Most I've been able to identify but one I can not. I can't
>  >find any kind of receipt but I think this might be nigella looking
>  >at their price list and knowing that I bought this because it wasn't
>  >something I already had.
>  >
>  >Perhaps someone could describe what nigella seeds look like and I
>  >can verify this from that? The web photo I found was inconclusive. I
>  >may just have to take this to a local Cook's Guild meeting and see
>  >if someone there knows what these are.
>
>I'd say nigella seeds look a little like cumin or caraway or anise or
>fennel seeds,

!!! ??? !!!

Nigella doesn't look like those others to me... I've got some in my pantry.

>except they're maybe a little flattened and dark grey
>to coal black.

Yeah, the ones i have are very matte black

>I often find them in Armenian string cheese, in which
>the moisture from the cheese tends to swell them up somewhat.

I find them in Afghani bread sold around here

>Adamantius

If you want to see photos of spices, Stefan, run your little browser over to:
http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/
Everything about Herbs & Spices: Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages

This is such a GREAT site!!! Photos of the plants as they are 
growing, photos of the spice or herb as it us used...

There are photos of nigella, of all those other seeds, and all sorts 
of stuff, even a few (very very few) that i never heard of. And the 
names of the spices and herbs in a plethora of languages of the 
cultures that use the item.

This website is a WONDER!

Get lost there for a while, and if what you bought isn't nigella, you 
might just find out what it is.

Anahita