Poppy seeds

I remember many years ago, back home, when I bought a slice of lemon poppy seed cake from a cafe.  I have seen cakes with poppy seeds on food shows and magazines but rarely could I find those being sold in the bakeries or cafes.  So when I saw that cake, I had to try it.

The cake was nice and moist and lemony, just like a usual cake.  But the tiny blue seeds (which at first I thought was black) gave an interesting crunch to the cake.  I loved that texture so I tried to look for poppy seeds to make my own cake.  It wasn't easy to find but I did manage to buy a small packet from one of the gourmet supermarkets in Singapore, Tierney's, if I'm not mistaken.  I think I added them to my lemon cake too.

But after that one time, I could not find it any more.  And I didn't see any poppy seeds being used by bakeries or cafes either.  Perhaps they were banned.  Singapore is strict that way.  I wasn't sure so I did some reading on it.

Poppy seeds do come from the opium poppy and eating foods that contain poppy seeds can result in false positive for opiates in drug tests.  However, the opiates levels are much too low to produce narcotic effects. Also, their production is monitored to keep a check on their narcotic value.  New cultivators are also being introduced to make poppy seeds more conducive for consumption.

Poppy seeds do have nutritional value.  They are an excellent source of minerals such as magnesium, zinc and calcium.  They also contain linoleic acid, which help to protect the heart from diseases, and oliec acid, which help in prevention of breast cancer.  Poppy seeds are also less allergenic than many other seeds and nuts.  How interesting!

So why the sudden interest in poppy seeds?  Well, I came across packets of poppy seeds being sold here.  Besides the blue seeds, I also found white ones.  After seeing those, I decided to buy a packet and bake a cake with them.  I had lots of oranges at home so I decided to bake an orange poppy seed cake.  It was very good.  The cake recipe came with a syrup that you pour immediately after the cake comes out of the oven and it made the cake super moist and orangey.

Actually, I bought the poppy seeds to sprinkle on top of my bagels.  Pete was the one to suggest it after the first time I baked bagels.  He thought that it would be more interesting to have the bagels topped with sesame seeds or poppy seeds.  So the next time I baked the bagels, that was what I did.  While the sesame seeds gave the bagels a nice, nutty flavour, the poppy seeds gave it lots of crunch.

With the successful tries using the poppy seeds, I would definitely use them more in my baking.  There are some bread recipes that use poppy seed paste so I might try that one day.  I am very sure they will taste great.