First, came the discovery that a lot of mass-produced paprika comes from a type of sweet bell pepper (Capsicum annuum), which offers next to no heat. Then, I found out that cloves are the dried buds and stems from clove tree branches and capers are actually flower buds, hand-picked, dried, salted, and sometimes brined before we eat them.  So, what about cumin, the deliciously earthy spice that’s key to dishes like falafel?  As it turns out, the spice starts its life as a fruit. What is cumin made from?  Perhaps surprisingly, the cumin plant (Cuminum cyminum) is part of the carrot and parsley family (Apiaceae). The parts that we use in cooking are its “seed-like” fruit, called schizocarps. A schizocarp is a type of dry fruit that is made up of lots of other little fruits. Once ripe, it splits up into many tiny segments (carpels), each containing a single seed. (By the way, pineapples are a kind of syncarp – a bunch of many flowers which fuse into a single fruit.)  The cumin’s schizocarps are shaped like long, …

!function(n){if(!window.cnx){window.cnx={},window.cnx.cmd=[];var t=n.createElement(‘iframe’);t.display=’none’,t.onload=function(){var n=t.contentWindow.document,c=n.createElement(‘script’);c.src=”//cd.connatix.com/connatix.player.js”,c.setAttribute(‘async’,’1′),c.setAttribute(‘type’,’text/javascript’),n.body.appendChild(c)},n.head.appendChild(t)}}(document);(new Image()).src=”https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb”;cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({“playerId”:”8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb”,”mediaId”:”4c2615b8-caae-4d5a-bab7-30953fac6785″}).render(“6a22913de4b0a18aef0b66f1”);}); We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about the fact that some paprika is made from a type of bell pepper called Capsicum annuum (more traditional kinds, however, usually contain Aleppo or various Hungarian varieties, among others). That made me wonder about the rest of the spices, condiments, and pickles in my cupboard.  This includes the small, briny flavour bombs, capers – which, as it turns out, are actually baby flowers. What are capers made from?  They’re made from the flower buds of the Mediterranean Capparis bush (yes, really). The small, unbloomed flowers are picked by hand, which is why they can run a little dear. Then, they’re dried, salted and/or pickled. These closed buds offer a nook-and-cranny-rich surface for salt to seep into, making the end product powerfully saline. But that’s not the only transformation that takes place: when capers are brined, salted, or pickled, they release mustard oil (glucocapparin), leading to their “intense” flavour. The University of Wisconsin-Madison added that “This enzymatic reaction leads to the formation of rutin, often seen as …