Talk:Fenugreek

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	Fenugreek is within the scope of WikiProject Plants, an attempt to better organize information in articles related to plants and botany. For more information, visit the project page.
Start	This article has been rated as Start-class on the quality scale.
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the importance scale.

Contents 1 Comment moved to talk page 2 Serum Cholesterol? 3 hayfeaver 4 spelling? 5 Lead sentence 6 Rosh HaShanah custom =

[edit] Comment moved to talk page

"Fenugreek" is an inherently funny word. The word comes from the Latin for "Greek hay," suggesting the Romans found it funny too.

[edit] Serum Cholesterol?

This article mentions serum cholesterol, but the link was dead. Anybody know what this is, exactly? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by RSido (talk • contribs) 21:18, 18 February 2007 (UTC).

I added a redirect page from serum cholesterol to cholesterol, since it covers the clinical aspects as well as the normal chemistry. Poochner 18:29, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] hayfeaver

has anyone ever tried this for hayfeaver? ```` —Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.145.236.12 (talk) 19:31, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] spelling?

According to my (Persian) mother the Persian name of fenugreek is spelled with an "n" not an "m" in Persian. Someone might want to fix that. 81.216.206.250 (talk) 23:17, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Lead sentence

Should not the lead sentence of an article tell what the subject of the article is? This lead sentence enumerates common names, and the taxonomic family in which it is placed, but never says whether we are talking about a plant or animal or mineral. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bruce Marlin (talk • contribs) 14:15, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Rosh HaShanah custom =

Can anyone verify the custom of eating fenugreek on Rosh Hashanah? The Babylonian Talmud (Kritut 5b and Horayot 12a) says that seeing (or eating) Rubia on the New Year is a sign of good luck. Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 11th century) in Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 109a, identifies Rubia as fenugreek. I do not have any idea what Rashi's source is. A purely speculative guess would be that he read Rubia as a Latin word (it means madder, the red dye, in Latin). Hilbe (fenugreek seeds), the ubiquitous spice of the Yeminite community, is a rust brown color. Could this have led Rashi to identify Rubia as fenugreek? I stress that this is an unscientific guess, because both madder and fenugreek should have been known in Rashi's 11th century France; and unlikely to be confused.

In any case, the custom is still followed by orthodox Sefaradi and Israeli Jews to this day. However, Rubia is understood to be black-eyed peas (see that article in the Wikipedia). This makes sense, as black-eyed peas are called Lubiya in Arabic. The Aramaic of the Babylonian Talmud is very closely related to Arabic. For instance, another good luck sign mentioned in the same two sources is the Qara (bottle gourd), which is also the name of the bottle gourd in Arabic. I have started asking Sefaradim about this. I have not yet found anyone who uses fenugreek for Rubia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.62.109.164 (talk) 12:50, 27 February 2008 (UTC)