According to a somewhat older publication, α‐keto-acids are
responsible for the flavour of blue fenugreek:
pyruvic acid, α‐keto glutaric acid,
α‐keto isovalerianic acid and even α‐keto isocapronic acid.
(Gordian, 86, 9, 1986)
This is astonishing: From considering related plants,
one would have expected five-membered heterocycles
(as in the closely related fenugreek) or
coumarins (as in the related genus Melilotus, honey
clover). On the other side, reaction of α‐ketocarboxylic
acids towards heterocycles has been observed during wine storage.
(Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 43, 2616, 1995)
Unfortunately, there appears to be no newer scientific work on the flavour components of this spice.
Trigonella caerulea: Blue fenugreek plant
Blue fenugreek plant
In the seeds of blue fenugreek, diosgenin glycosides were found which also
appear in fenugreek seeds. Apparently, they have yet found
any pharmaceutical application.
Origin
Blue fenugreek is found in the Alps, in the mountains of Eastern
and South Eastern Europe and in the Caucasus.
Etymology
The German name Schabziegerklee (usually spelt
Schabzigerklee in Swiss German) alludes to the herb’s
usage in cheese making, for Ziger is a regional,
mostly Swiss, word for the milk proteins (casein) that remain after
the whey has been separated. Cf. Zigerkraut herb for
Ziger
.
Most other names allude to the characteristic blue flowers, which distinguishes
blue fenugreek from its relatives of genera Trigonella,
Trifolium and Melilotus. The following table gives
a summary; a dagger indicates that the colour adjective specifically describes a light or pale hue of blue.
language name
blue
Latin
Trigonella caerulea caeruleus †
German
Blauklee blau
Swedish
blåväppling blå
French
mélilot bleu bleu
Portuguese
trevo-azul azul
Italian
meliloto azzurro azzurro †
Italian
fieno-greco ceruleo ceruleo †
Czech
pískavice modrá modrý
Polish
kozieradka błękitna błękitny †
Belarusian
pažytnik blakitny [
пажытнік блакітны]
???
Russian
pazhitnik goluboj [
пажитник голубой]
goluboj [
голубой] †
Bulgarian
smindukh sin [
сминдух син]
sinyo [
синьо]
Latvian
zilais sierāboliņš zils
Estonian
sinine lambalääts sinine
Finnish
sinisarviapila sininen
Trigonella caerulea: Flowering and fruiting plant of blue fenugreek
Flowering and fruiting plant of blue fenugreek
Trigonella caerulea: Blue Fenugreek flower
Blue fenugreek inflorescence
The other part of these names is a noun that in most cases means either
fenugreek or generically stands for clover-like
plants.
Yet some other names are motivated by the aromatic fragrance of blue
fenugreek: Italian balsamo (see lemon
balm for more explanations on balsam
) and French
trèfle musque musky trefoil
(see also
nutmeg) or lotier odorant
fragrant trefoil
.
English blue has cognates in many Germanic languages, e. g.
German blau, Icelandic blár, Swedish blå
and Yiddish bloy [בלױ].
The English word took a more complicated route: It was borrowed from
Old French bleu, which itself was taken
from a Germanic source (root BLĒWA blue
).
The Proto-Indo–European root behind these names was reconstructed as
BhEL and is the progenitor of a number of adjectives
for various, typically bright, colours: Latin flavus golden yellow
(cf. English blond),
Russian bielyj [белый] white
(see
white mustard) and Welsh blawar grey
.
English bleach and black are also part of that group
(see nigella).
Trigonella caerulea: Blue Fenugreek flower
Blue fenugreek inflorescence
Romance languages have two terms for blue
: Italian ceruleo
derives from Latin coelum sky
. On the other hand,
French azure, Italian azzurro and Spanish azul
have a more complicated history that relates to the semi-precious stone
lapis lazuli. The stone is named for an ancient mine location in
today’s Northern Afghanistan and was transferred westwards as
Persian lazhward [لاژورد]
and Arabic lazward [لازورد];
there, the name of the stone was to denote the colour, and the initial L was misidentified
as the Arabic definite article and removed.
Trigonella caerulea: Blue fenugreek flowers
Blue fenugreek flowers
The term clover
is in use for the several species species of the
pea family, especially such with
three-partite leaves. It is restricted to Germanic languages, e. g.,
German Klee, Dutch klaver,
Danish kløver. The origin of that name is
unknown, although it is attested in the oldest Germanic tongues,
as Old English clafre and Old High German klēo (genitive case: klewes).
Trigonella caerulea: Blue fenugreek flowers
Trigonella caerulea/coerulea: Blue-white clover flowers
Blue fenugreek with flowers
© Daniel Landis
Trigonella caerulea: Flowers of blue fenugreek (utskho suneli)
Flowers of blue fenugreek
Blue fenugreek is a culinary herb native to the Alps
in Central and Western Europe, and the Caucasus on the border between Asia and Europe; it is little known outside these regions.
In Georgia, the dried seeds of blue fenugreek are widely employed as a spice, usually sold as a pale greyish–brown powder
consisting of both pods and seeds. Because the plant grows only in the mountainous North of the country, it is not known to the
majority of Georgians, who live in the plains South of the Caucasus range; thus the spice is
named utskho suneli [უცხო სუნელი] foreign spice
.
Nevertheless, the spice is used throughout the country, but not beyond its borders, thus contributing strongly to the national character of Georgian food.
It is a common addition to stews and ragouts, as its flavour develops on prolonged cooking; in a strange way, it appears to intensify other flavours.
Ground blue fenugreek seeds are also part of the national herb mixture khmeli suneli
and form a key flavour in svanuri marili (see garlic), a spice salt from the Svaneti province in the High Coucasus mountains.
The cuisine of Georgia is particularly known for its subtle blends of herbs,
and for its pleasantly fruity, acidic, well-spiced sauces. Herbs
are usually employed in form of khmeli-suneli (dried herbs
,
also spelt xmeli-suneli and hmeli-suneli [ხმელი-სუნელი]).
That mixture is sold ground and may contain various herbs and spices, e. g., blue fenugreek,
savory, dill weed and
basil plus a smaller amount of
black pepper and a pinch of Imeretian
saffron (see safflower). Optional herbs are
parsley, mint
and coriander leaves.
Trigonella caerulea: Flowers of blue fenugreek (utskho suneli)
Flowers of blue fenugreek
Trigonella caerulea: Flowering blue fenugreek plant
Flowering blue fenugreek plant
Khmeli‐suneli is used for various Georgian meat and vegetable
stews and also for the many sauces Georgian cuisine is so famous for. These
sauces typically consist of dried herbs, acidic fruits and nuts.
A simple and well-known example is satsivi [საცივი],
a sauce made from ground walnuts and herbs used to dress cold boiled chicken meat. More
complex sauces are the plum-based t’q’emali sauce (see dill)
and the pungent ajik’a or
ajika [აჯიკა]
(Russian adzhika [аджика]).
Ajik’a is prepared all over the country, but particularly popular in Western Georgia and Abkhasia,
where Ottoman Turkish influence (and thus the love for spicy foods) is largest. It is made from fresh
chiles and paprika, aromatic fresh leaves
(celery, coriander),
garlic and khmeli-suneli and contains a large proportion of salt.
Trigonella caerulea: Flowering blue fenugreek plant
Flowering blue fenugreek plant
The national food of Georgia is skewered meats, mts’vadi (mtsvadi [მწვადი]),
which is more often known by its Russian name, shashlyk [шашлык].
It consists of bit-sized pieces of pork or mutton which are put on a metal spit and
grilled over open fire. It is served still on the spit, with raw onion rings
and various sauces for dipping, e. g., t’q’emali sauce, ajik’a or
a mild sauce made from raw tomatoes (sats’ebela [საწებელა]).
Blue fenugreek seeds are unavailable outside Georgia, and thus have to be replaced. Regular fenugreek seeds are
to strong and bitter; they should be mixed with dried fenugreek or blue fenugreek leaves to give an acceptable substitute.
In completely different form blue fenugreek makes an appearance in several Alpine foods: As a dried herb.
In the West Alps (Switzerland), it is added to a few cheese varieties, and in
the South Alps (South Tyrol) it lends a special flavour to local rye breads.
Trigonella caerulea: Flowering blue fenugreek
Flowering blue fenugreek
Trigonella caerulea: Schabziegerkäse
Swiss cheese flavoured with blue fenugreek
Cheese is produced in a wide area from Ireland to Central Asia, and from
Northern Africa to Norway; but the countries of Western and Central Europe
enjoy the greatest variety of cheese products. That has several reasons:
Production of milk has a tradition going back several millennia in these
thin-populated areas, and there is general tolerance for lactose in the
population; consequently, cheese is produced as a kind of preserved milk
that allows to store the nutritional value of milk protein.
Furthermore, in the Alps a large number of regional cheese traditions has
evolved due to geographic isolation.
Milk, essentially, contains two different types of proteins: Casein, which
precipitates when treated with acid or certain enzymes, and lactoglobulines,
(whey proteins) which are more soluble. Most cheese types consist only of the
former, which is precipitated, dried and then allowed to ripen in a fashion
characteristic for each cheese. Ripening is usually performed with bacteria,
often types which are local to a specific region; some cheeses, however,
are treated with molds (often of genus Penicillum); that procedure
leads to a particularly strong and characteristic aroma.
Trigonella caerulea: Flowering blue fenugreek
Flowering blue fenugreek
In cheese production, spices are of minor importance. There are some
soft cheeses flavoured with garlic or
pepper (usually green pepper), but other
spices are seen only rarely. In Southern Germany, there are local cheeses
spiced with caraway; I have read that
cumin is used for the same purpose in
Holland and France, but I have never seen such a cheese. Hungary, of course,
has some paprika-flavoured cheese varieties.
Fresh cheese, which has only a mild flavour, is often covered with dried
herbs (oregano, thyme),
particularly in the Mediterranean.
Lastly, some cheeses contain annatto seed extract
(bixin) as a colourant, e. g., British cheddar.
Cheese flavoured with blue fenugreek (Schabzigerkäse,
occasionally transcribed into English as sap sago cheese
) is a
specialty local to the region around Glarus, in the Swiss canton of the same
name. This cheese is twice ripened, ground, mixed with blue fenugreek powder
and then cast into its final shape. Blue fenugreek not only gives a
unique flavour, but also a pale green colour to this cheese.
Like most other hard cheese varieties, Schabziger is
mostly used as a flavouring: It is a tasty, unusual alternative to
Italian parmigiano for pasta dishes;
it can be used for several types of stuffings; or can be mixed with butter
to give a milder bread spread.
Trigonella caerulea: Flowering South Tyrolean bread clover
Blue fenugreek from South Tyrol in flower
www.brotdoktor.de
Blue fenugreek is not commonly used to
flavour other types of cheese, besides bread spreads based on cottage
cheese. It is, generally, not much used for foods prepared in
home kitchens, but rather an industrial spice hardly known to consumers; I don;t know even of commercial spice mixtures employing this rather exotic spice.
Yet it is occasionally called for in local Swiss foods, where it indeed makes good appearance: The herb powder is simply sprinkeled over
fried potatoes (Rösti) or potato-based caserolles. This seems to be restricted to a small part of Switzerland.
Trigonella caerulea: Flowering South Tyrolean bread clover
Blue fenugreek from South Tyrol in flower
www.brotdoktor.de
Trigonella caerulea: Bread clover flowers
Flowers of blue fenugreek
www.brotdoktor.de
Independently, blue fenugreek appears in another specialty of the Alps,
namely South Alpine rye breads, whence the name Brotklee
(bread clover
). Ground blue fenugreek leaves are added in minute amounts
to the dough of rye breads in Tyrol and Southern Tyrol (which is part of
Italy, where it is referred to as Alto Adige).
These breads, already quite flavourful, acquire a unique taste from the
blue fenugreek. The herb is dried by a special procedure including a
fermentation step; therefore, it acquires a strong, characteristic aroma.
Rye breads (often referred to as dark or black breads) are a typical food of
the cooler regions of Europe, since rye thrives better than wheat in such
climate. Gluten, the protein that makes wheat flour dough elastic, is mostly
absent from rye, and consequently, rye bread is dense and less aired than wheat
bread; furthermore, they have a dark
, earthy flavour that anybody accustomed
to rye bread will miss when travelling through regions where only wheat bread
is baked. Because of their more intense base aroma, rye breads are quite
often flavoured with spices, e. g., pumpkin
seeds, coriander, fennel
or caraway fruits.
Trigonella caerulea: Bread clover flowers
Flowers of blue fenugreek
www.brotdoktor.de
Outside of Central, Eastern and Northern Europe, bread is mostly produced from
wheat flour (white bread
); there are innumerable local varieties differing
in the composition of the dough, the fermentation procedure and additional
components (diary products, boiled potatoes, olive
oil). Wheat bread is often flavoured with nutty-tasting seeds sprinkled
over the surface before baking (poppy,
sesame); sometimes, the dough is enriched with
flavourings (fried onions, garlic). In the Eastern Mediterranean, bread
flavoured with mahaleb cherry stones is baked, and
Turkish breads often are sprinkled with nigella
seeds. In the Indian Himalayas, I have once eaten ajwain-sprinkled bread, but I think this was quite an
exception and not typical for cuisine in Ladakh.
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