[Sca-cooks] what is 'shuniz'?

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Giano wrote:
>  > > I am trying to reproduce 'Milh Mutayyab' spice mixture and I am wondering
>  > > about one ingredient. Arberry's translation renders it as 
>'shuniz'. In the
>  > > Perry translation of the 'Description of Familiar Foods' a 
>parallel recipe
>  > > lists the same ingredients, but in place of 'shuniz' it has nigella.
>  > >
>  > > Is it reasonable to assume 'shuniz' is nigella?

Olwen the Odd responded:
>  > If it turns out folks agree it is nigella and you need some, let me
>  > know. I get it down the road.
>  >
>  > Cariad a heddwch (love and peace)

Well, i have no reason to doubt Charles Perry. He appears to be very 
knowledgeable as a translator of Medieval Arabic works. He writes 
scholarly essays on the subject and is invited to speak at scholarly 
conferences on historic foodways.

Radei Drchevich pondered:
>I am not familiar with this spice.  Could I get you to mail me some?
>Tell me how much it cost for a small parcel and mailing and I will send
>you the money, if you will.
>
>always looking for new spices to play with.

Nigella is available in just about any South Asian store that sells 
food. Nigella seeds are small, matte black, and almost pyramidal. 
They are sometimes sold as:
-- black onion seeds
-- black cumin seeds
-- black caraway seeds
although they are none of the above.

For photos and more information, take a look at Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages:
<http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/generic_noframe.html?Nige_sat.html>
He lists Arabic words for nigella as:
Habbet as-suda, Habbeh as-sudah, Habbah sauda, Habbah el baraka 
[seeds of blessing], [Urtatime notes: habbet / habbeh / habbah means 
"seeds"]
Kamun aswad [Urtatim notes: this means "black cumin"],
Sanouz, Shuniz, Shunez, Sinouj [Urtatim notes: look! modern Arabic is 
the same here as the Medieval]

I have used them in Indian and Medieval Arabic cooking. I agree with 
Gernot Katzer that they do NOT taste like black pepper. They are a 
little bitter and pungent and while i wouldn't characterize them as 
"smokey" i can see why someone might.

I recommend reading the entire page. Lots of interesting info - and 
it may explain why someone thought nigella were toxic - which to the 
best of my knowledge they aren't when used in normal seasoning 
quantities.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita