Love in the Mist gets much love in Egypt

One night, my Lady Friend and I ordered some falafel burgers from a restaurant a couple of blocks away. With our order came a little bag of rolls -- some looked and tasted like typical dinner rolls, others had a distinctly Middle Eastern flavor. Covering a couple of them were these little matte-black seeds, which Lady Friend had previously seen in other dishes. When I asked what they were, she said that they were simply referred to as "blackseed." Ok, then.

We were shopping at a local pharmacy and Lady Friend bought a couple of organic sesame wafers, some of which had these curious black seeds inside. I flipped over the package to read the ingredients, and to my surprise I read that they were Nigella sativa seeds. The plant that is otherwise known as Love in the Mist, which I grew in the garden at my place in Columbus, OH, three years ago. I didn't know it was a medicinal/food plant, though [as if most plants aren't, Damon].

Once this revelation was made known, I found that blackseed oil products are sold all over the place in Egypt. It seems that Nigella seeds have been well-regarded for their properties since the Pharaonic era, with particular applications for metabolic energy (like chia and quinoa) and immunity.

"According to an Arab proverb, it is said that 'in the black seed is the medicine for every disease except death.'"