Sources That Influenced the Use of Wild Food Plants in Estonia

Abstract

Through history there were different means through which use of wild plants were introduced. The high popularity of caraway Carum carvi for seasoning and recreational tea was probably caused by the obligation for peasants of some manors, who in eighteenth to nineteenth century had to collect a specific amount of seeds for their landlords as a food additive and medicine (Kalle and Sõukand 2011b). This might have caused the situation that cumin seeds were always available in the households, the taste and smell became familiar and the use was intuitively tried out.