Blue Fenugreek, Herb (Trigonella caerulea)
Italy

Culinary Breeding Network ambassador Sarah Minnick, owner of Portland pizzeria Lovely's Fifty-Fifty, loves to use fenugreek on pizza and had been sourcing the more common species (Trigonella foenum-graecum) from local farms until she visited northern Italy. Sarah met a baker who grew, in addition to his own grains, a species of fenugreek for use in the traditional Tyrolean bread Pustrer Breatln. Excited at the thought of having this herb back home, she came home with seeds to share with Uprising Seeds, thus now has her farmers grow this tasty species. In addition to bread, the herb is also used to flavor alpine cheeses in Switzerland and used extensively in Georgian cuisine as an ingredient in the spice mix khmeli suneli. It has an amazing fragrance of maple syrup, and a complex, mildly bitter flavor.