The designation ‘chimen’
is only used for the seeds, while ‘fenugreek’ – for the entire plant, which is the main spice of the Bulgarian ‘sharena
sol’ (ground dried herbs). It is used in fresh and tinned dishes of meat and
vegetables and combined with savory, spearmint, parsley, fennel and paprika. It
is stewed with the main products. The brown-yellowish fenugreek seeds
contain volatile oils with more than 40 ingredients that add a specific,
slightly bitter zest to the spice. Being browned, they gain a peculiar scent of
nuts.
In a number of
countries fenugreek seeds are used to roll out meat (for instance to prepare to
so called Bulgarian ‘kaiser’ jerked meat). This kind of fenugreek usage is
related to its strong antiseptic effect. Small amounts of fenugreek
seeds are contained in each kind of Indian curry. The scented seeds with a
bitter taste are the main ingredient of the ‘panch phoron’ blend from Bengali.
There are fenugreek seeds in the Georgian spice mixture called ‘kmeli-suneli’,
as well.
The fenugreek
seeds home are the Mediterranean mainlands, but it is also known in China,
India and Northern Africa. Its seeds are used as a spice and a medicative plant
by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. For its antiseptic effect the fenugreek seed
has been used for treating wounds, abscesses, rheumatism, podagra, tetter and
internally it has been taken for healing bronchitis and problems with the
alimentary tract.
