None of these plants, however, reaches caraway in its culinary importance. Today, it is chiefly cultivated in the Netherlands, Eastern Europe and Germany. On the derivation of the prefix al- found in the Spanish and Portuguese names of caraway, which relates to the Arabic article, see capers . True aficionados use the whole fruits, but even the powder is strongly aromatic. Unfermented boiled cabbage without caraway lacks character.
Caraway is of some importance in the cuisines of North Africa, mostly in Tunisia.
Outside the indicated areas, caraway is rather uncommon. If you ever find references to caraway in books about Middle East, Indian or Far East cooking, then the most probable explanation is a translation mistake and you should read cumin .