A flowering plant in the Apiaceae family, cumin produces a brown fruit (its seeds) with nine ridges. It closely resembles caraway seeds, but a bit more green, longer, and straighter. The seeds have long used since the second millennium BC. Cumin as a substitute for pepper by the Romans.

And it was believed by Europeans during the Middle Ages that cumin would ensure fidelity. Traditionally, German grooms kept cumin, along with salt and dill, in their pockets during the wedding ceremony. Cumin is one of the pillars of Latin American cooking after it was introduced to them by the Spanish explorers.