Uses
Poppy seeds are widely used in baking and cooking, particularly in pastries, breads, cakes, and muffins. They add a distinctive nutty flavor and crunchy texture to dishes. Popular in Central European and South Asian cuisines, they’re used in both sweet and savory preparations. The seeds can be used whole for texture or ground into a paste for fillings and sauces. They’re also pressed to produce poppy seed oil, which is used for cooking and in salad dressings. In traditional medicine, poppy seeds have been used as a mild sedative.
Origin
Poppy seeds are obtained from the opium poppy plant (Papaver somniferum) and have been harvested by various civilizations for thousands of years. Ancient texts show they were used by the Egyptians around 1550 BCE, and the Minoan civilization (2700-1450 BCE) cultivated poppies for their seeds. The Sumerians also grew poppy seeds. Today, the Czech Republic is the world’s largest producer, followed by Turkey, Spain, Hungary, and France. The tiny, kidney-shaped seeds are less than a millimeter in length, with about 3,300 seeds making up a single gram.