A quiet jar of nigella seeds

The naan is already rolled — the hand reaches for the black seeds “for the crust”, and the nigella packet lies spilled by the hob. Easy to lose the sharp: the grains dull, they smell of cupboard. I gather them into a small jar with a tight lid and take it to a cool shelf — the next pinch on a flatbread still rings of black pepper.

A quiet jar of nigella seeds. This is not poppy for a roll and not cumin for pilaf: nigella holds the crust of bread and flatbread. A jar in the cool — so the grain stays whole and black, not dust above the burner, and not a speech about other jars from the aisle.

A bitter oil smell — straight to the bin, not “I’ll tip for looks”. Onto the crust at the very end, I don’t cook it in a sauce for an hour. I take only the nigella already open at ours, not a new packet “to compare”.

I don’t need black dust from the shelf above the hob. I need a jar from which the flatbread still smells of sharp seed. In your kitchen does nigella sit shut in the cool — or spill from an open packet by the heat?