Caraway

There is no Latvian midsummer cheese without caraway – jāņu siers is the essential treat of the shortest night of the year.

Caraway is a biennial of the carrot family, growing to 60–80 cm, with finely divided, pinnate leaves and white or pinkish flowers gathered in umbels. In its second year it produces brown, crescent-shaped fruits with a strong, spicy aroma, valued as a spice. It grows wild in damp meadows, pastures and on roadsides, and is also cultivated. Caraway eases bloating and for centuries has been added to bread, cabbage, cheeses and herbal liqueurs.

Significance in the country

Jāņu siers – a curd cheese with caraway seeds – is made for the Jāņi festival, its round shape symbolising the sun. Caraway is also added to Latvia’s dark rye bread (rupjmaize), and gathering it in the meadows is a rural tradition.

Where it grows

Throughout the country in meadows, pastures and along roadsides, especially in the fertile, damp meadows of Zemgale and Vidzeme; also grown in fields.

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