When I think of Polish cooking three popular herbs which always spring to mind are caraway, dill and parsley.
They all belong to the Apiaceae family which includes carrot and celery.
This family is also calledUmbelliferae (from the Latin – umbella – for parasol or sunshade) – the flower heads consists of umbels which have equal length flower stalks coming from a central point which forms a flattened head – rather like an umberella.
Carum carvi is caraway – kminek – in Polish.
It is native to Europe, North Africa & Western Asia.
Caraway – Drawing taken from Wikapedia
Caraway fruits are often called seeds.
Caraway is thought to be an aid to digestion.
In 2011 Finland supplied over 25% of the world’s caraway.