Poppy seeds in cooking

Poppy Seeds are tiny nutty tasting, blue-gray seeds inside capsules on Papaver somniferum, and an opium plant indigenous to the Mediterranean. Poppies are native to regions like China, Turkey or Iran. The biggest producers of poppy seeds today are countries like Holland and Canada.

Poppy cultivation dates back to 1400 BC when the plants where used for their sedative properties. Galen, a famous Greek physician suggested the seeds be baked into wholesome bread. Early Egyptians made cooking oil from the seeds. Even today some people are still using poppy seed oil for cooking, but it is mostly used in paint processing.

The culinary poppy seeds are harvested from dried seed capsules of the opium poppy. In one pound there are approximately 900,000 poppy seeds, says an anonymous count. Poppy seed muffins and bagels are common baked goods these days. People can also buy prepared poppy seed spread to fill pastries. To bring out the seeds best flavor they should be rousted before using. The best in flavor and quality in Europe are considered the Dutch poppy seeds. The best poppy seeds for cooking are he ones grown without any pesticides or other chemicals.

Poppy seeds are considered a classic addition to buttered egg noodles or food salad dressings. People all over the world, especially Europe, usually add the poppy seeds nutty flavor to cookies, cakes, breads, pancakes, strudels, pastry crusts and other kinds of food.