Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.)

Fenugreek is an ancient spice, although currently not much known in the West; it has been grown as a medicinal plant in Europe during the Middle Ages. Today, many people in Western countries seem to dislike its flavour, which they claim to be “goaty” and bitter. It is now mostly used in the West, Central and South Asia; in India, is is popular for pickles. Dry roasting can enhance the flavour and reduce the bitterness, provided care is taken not to overheat the seeds.

Fenugreek leaves are an important spice from Western Asia to Northern India; for example, dried fanugreek leaves appear in the spice mixture from Georgia, khmeli-suneli. In India, they are sometimes found in Northern-style yeast bread (then called methi naan).
Iran has a particularly rich tradition in cooking with fenugreek leaves; among the most famous examples is ghorme sabzi, a thick sauce made from fresh or dried vegetables (leek, onion, occasionally beans) and herbs (fenugreek, parsley, mint; some recipes also call for chives and coriander leaves). The sauce accquires a characteristic sour flavour by addition of dried limes. Khoreshte ghorme sabzi is mutton slowly stewed in this aromatic herb sauce.
The wide-spread popularity of this bitter spice may surprise Western cooks; although bitterness arises unpleasant associations in most people, culinary use of bitter taste is a theme found all over the globe.

Used plant part
The brownish-yellow seeds of rhombic shape (about 3 mm). Indians also like the fresh leaves, which are eaten as a very tasty vegetable and prepared like spinach, or dried and used as a flavouring. The leaves of a related plant (blue fenugreek), which appear in Central European cooking, can be substituted by fenugreek leaves.

Plant family
Fabaceae (bean family).

Sensoric quality
Bitter and aromatic.

Main constituents
Fenugreek contains only minute quantities of an essential oil. In the essential oil, 40 different compounds were found, of which a hemiterpenoid ?-lactone, sotolon (3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl-2(5H)-furanone), seems to be the most important aroma component; furthermore, n-alkanes, sesquiterpenes, alkanoles and lactones were reported.
Among the non-volatile components, the furostanol glycosides are probably responsible for the bitter taste; among the several more compounds yet identified, sterol- and diosgenin derivatives (of potential interest for the pharmaceutical industry) and trigonellin (N-methyl-pyridinium-3-carboxylate, 0.4%) are most worth noting.

Origin
From the Mediterranean to China.