Poppy seeds

Papaver somniferum

nuts & seeds

Tiny slate-grey-blue, kidney-shaped seeds less than a millimetre long, harvested for millennia from the dried poppy capsules; on breads and in central European pastries. They provide calcium.

Origin

Eastern Mediterranean

Season (United States)

imported · all year round

Preparation

They are sprinkled raw over breads, or ground and cooked into a sweet filling. Food-grade seeds, in baking amounts: poorly washed, they keep some of the poppy's morphine. Never as a tea.

Molecules

CalciumIn small amounts, not counted Protein · Omega-6 (linoleic acid)

Did you know?

The blue-seeded poppy is also called œillette, or oliette, in French: “the one that gives oil”.