Burlap & Barrel Wild Mountain Cumin

Category: Spices

Our Wild Mountain Cumin has a savory, penetrating aroma and bright, umami flavor. The tiny, oblong black seeds are hand-picked by foragers in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan. Botanically distinct from common cumin, our Wild Mountain Cumin is renowned in Afghanistan and throughout central and south Asia for its delicious flavor as well as its medicinal properties. It has a savory, penetrating aroma and bright, umami flavor evocative of grilled meats and sweet caramelized onions.

Origin:

Badakhshan, Afghanistan

Aliases:

Black cumin, Persian cumin, kala jeera, Elwendia persica

Process:

Sun-dried

Ingredients:

Whole wild cumin (Bunium persicum)

Tasting notes:

Grilled Onion • Dried Apricots • Mountain Air

SOURCING

Our Wild Mountain Cumin is sourced directly from networks of foragers in the Hindu Kush mountain range of Badakhshan province in the northeastern corner of Afghanistan. The Hindu Kush range is characterized by steep, rocky peaks cut through by green river valleys; the significant snowfall in the winter results in abundant vegetation in the short spring and summer seasons despite low rainfall. The rocky soil cultivates an ancient and resilient varietal of cumin with a warm, pungent flavor and irresistible aroma.

The cumin grows wild, and other than the small quantities we export, is harvested only for local consumption; there is no scalability or institutional infrastructure for export, and we are only able to source this very rare cumin varietal because of Burlap & Barrel founder Ethan’s years working in Badakhshan and surrounding provinces.

Burlap & Barrel is the only importer of Wild Mountain Cumin from Afghanistan. Our cumin grows wild and can be considered naturally organic, as no pesticides or other chemicals are used in its cultivation.

Meet the Forager: Ali collects our Wild Mountain Cumin from foragers who bring it down from the high mountains of Afghanistan's Hindu Kush to Faizabad, where he cleans it and prepares it for shipment.

$9.99

1.50 ounces

SUPPLIER

Burlap & Barrel

Burlap & Barrel is a Public Benefit Corporation building new international food supply chains that are equitable, transparent and traceable.

A single origin spice company, Burlap & Barrel buys spices from farmers around the globe, who they call partners. They’ve eliminated the intermediaries who have traditionally bought and sold spices multiple times before any jar of spice lands in a U.S. customer’s kitchen cabinet. This means their spices are fresher than what you can find from the big spice companies. Spices so potent that they suggest new customers use just half a serving at first, as they sometimes get feedback from customers that the spices are too strong. It's not that the spices are too strong, but rather we are just accustomed to cooking with old spices! Did you know that supermarket spices sometimes have been in transit for three years?!?!?

Another benefit to eliminating spice brokers is that Burlap & Barrel can pay the farmers more for their crops while offering quality spices to the public at affordable prices.

SUPPORTING SMALLHOLDER FARMERS

Burlap & Barrel is working towards ending inequality and exploitation in food systems that disenfranchise skilled farmers.

They do this by:

Connecting smallholder farmers to high-value markets
Educating consumers about the impact of product traceability on human rights
Sourcing unique foods with terroir that are grown biodynamically and organically using traditional techniques

REDEFINING SUSTAINABILITY

Mainstream conversations around food sustainability rarely consider the people involved in growing, harvesting, transporting, processing and cooking food. Sustainability is discussed in terms of environmental impact, or the comfort of livestock providing meat, dairy or eggs.

The folks at Burlap & Barrel believe that the standard measures of sustainability must evolve to consider the conditions in which the farmers who drive global food supply chains earn their livelihoods. Single origin ingredients draw attention to the unique environments in which incredible ingredients grow and to the farmers with the expertise and commitment to grow them well.