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People often think of poppy as a coating on bagels, but this versatile seed and member of the opium family is used in many other menu items.
The poppy seed, which comes in two colors, is a mild-flavored item often used in muffins, salad dressings and as part of a crust for fish and other products. The darker poppy often serves as a visually appealing element to a dish more than a change in flavor.
Papaver somniferum is the scientific name for the opium poppy, which is native to the Middle East, but is now grown in China, India and Afghanistan. It is the same plant used as a base for making codeine, morphine and heroin, though only one variety of the plant is used for both medicinal and food purposes, according to The Encyclopedia of Spices.
Carl Vitale, co-executive chef at Gibraltar, 931 Harrisburg Pike, occasionally uses poppy seeds in different dishes. "It definitely adds a distinct flavor to dishes. I love to pair it with sweet potatoes. I poach the potatoes and add the poppies to a mix of oranges and vanilla.
"I have also tried a crab tortellini with poppy seeds. Customers seem very interested in these seasonal dishes," Vitale said. "There was also a crab meat I had that was filled with poppy seeds, onions, lemon, and crème fraîche. It adds a nice touch to crab."
Vitale is one of many area chefs who have used poppy seed as a key ingredient in a salad dressing. "I use it in a dressing if we have the proper flavors to pair it with. It serves as a great dressing when we have a salad with orange segments on top."
Jon Weaver, executive chef at The Olde Greenfield Inn, 595 Greenfield Road, also uses poppy seeds in two of his dressings. "We have a cranberry dressing and also a lemon champagne vinaigrette dressing that has poppy seeds added for extra flavor. It is in these dressings where these seeds seem to work the best."
Pastries and desserts make up the majority of poppy seed usage by chefs, said Steve Drake, executive chef at the Belvedere, 402 N. Queen St. He said the poppy seed is used across Europe in a variety of breads, pastries, cakes and strudels.
"It can also be used similar to sesame seeds to make a bar of candy. Fillings for pastries can be made by finely grinding poppy seeds and mixing them together with milk, butter or sugar," Drake said.
The flavor is described as mild until heated, when it becomes nutty, with sweet-spicy undertones, according to the Encyclopedia of Spices.
According to the resource book, poppy seeds are very hard to grind without a special device, so the best idea is to roast them then use a pestle and mortar. If using poppy seeds with uncooked food, they should be roasted to heighten the flavor. When used in pastries, the seeds are covered with boiling water and allowed to stand one to three hours before grinding.
Drake said poppy seed can be used in the same way as sesame seed, often serving as a coating for an entrée. "It is very good pan-roasted on fish, such as tuna or mackerel. It is a relatively neutral flavor and complements just about any fish very well."
Weaver agreed, saying he often mixes the poppy with sesame for a nice mild flavor and for visual appeal.
Many area restaurants will feature a chicken dish with some type of poppy seed sauce or marinade, such as the orange poppy seed marinade featured at TJ Rockwell's in Elizabethtown.
There are two types of poppy seeds used in cooking. There are the lighter, white ones, and the more prevalent darker, blue ones. While there is little difference in flavor, the darker are used more often for visual appeal in a dish, adding some darkness to a liquid. "I use the black seeds as a contrast to a dish. People can see this and it interests them," Weaver said.
"I have done biscuits and cookies with poppy seeds as side items for a dish, and I also have a strawberry and cardamom soup we serve over the summer that has poppies in it, but it is not a spice I use that often," Drake said.
Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine often features poppy seeds as a base for recipes. "They are used in a ground form for use in purees and patties, and (chefs) also use whole toasted seeds added to a dish for flavor," explained Drake, who previously had an Indian dish on his menu that featured poppy seeds in chutney.
The mild taste of poppy seed helps round out a dish. "It is not an overpowering taste. It seems to work very well with all different citrus fruits," Weaver said. "It complements them well."
Poppy seeds and drug tests
Poppies have been around for thousands of years, and there is history of their use by the ancient Egyptians for medicinal purposes.
"I have never known anyone personally who tested positive, but we are told at (work) that if we eat too much poppy seed we could get in trouble for it. They give us random drug tests at work, and this is a concern for drivers," John Zimmerman, a local truck driver, said.
Labs now say they can distinguish between opiate abuse and poppy seed ingestion by doing a hair analysis, but the best way to stay out of trouble is to limit oneself to two poppy seed muffins per day. This would fall within the normal range for one person as set by the Federal Drug Administration.
Local woman's poppy seed dressing for sale
One local woman has made poppy seeds a key ingredient in her new salad dressing, available at different area businesses.
Sue Myers of Lancaster has bottled her poppy seed dressing after years of being told to do so by her daughter. This mixture of honey, sugar, white wine vinegar, dry mustard, onion, soybean oil and poppy seeds has been perfected by Myers, after six tries, at Lancaster Fine Foods. The name of it, Yia Yia, is Greek for grandmother.
"The dressing can be used for salad, fruit or in a pasta salad. It is very versatile," Myers said. "The poppy adds a little bit of flavor, but is more there for the visual aspect, for me."
The dressing is sold at all three Stauffers of Kissel Hill locations, for $6.95 a bottle. Stoudt's Black Angus in Adamstown sells it for $4.75 at its co-op, and Mandros Fine Foods will start selling a few bottles in the upcoming weeks. Willow Valley's new Farmers Market also plans to offer it.
Though Myers said a company will take over producing it in the future, she does not plan on mass-producing it anytime soon.
