Do you ever cook with cloves? I’m sure you know that they are the dried flower buds of an evergreen tree native to eastern Indonesia. Cloves are such a versatile spice – for use in both sweet and savoury dishes. The BBC Food site gives loads of examples of recipes containing cloves.
I use them in apple dishes [my Mum always sprinkled them rather too liberally in her apple pies] I love to stud hams with them, having first scored the fat in a diamond pattern.
At Christmas, it is fun to press them into a small orange or satsuma, like an old fashioned pomander [and then at Easter to discover a small shrivelled thing like a shrunken head which managed to roll under the sofa during the festive season and get forgotten!]
Some people swear by Oil Of Cloves for toothache [or chewing on the spice itself] but this has never really worked for me.
But this weekend I was utterly fascinated by a story on the BBC Website about the Oldest Clove Tree in the world. It is called Afo [nobody knows why] and has been around for between 350 and 400 years! It is on the island of Ternat in Indonesia.
Simon Worrall’s article is brilliant – and the sort of article which makes history come alive, and gives one new respect for the spices in the kitchen.
What’s your favourite clove recipe?
[and I do not mean cloves of garlic!]
Nothing quite like playing 'hunt the cloves' in a bowl of kitcheri (vegan kedgeree)!
ReplyDeleteJane x
In Cyprus they drop 1 clove in the teapot
ReplyDeleteI'm a tad scared of cloves, but my recipe for huge apple pie- Delia's- uses an inordinate amount of them. I usually at least halve the quantity, but that's about it on strawberry clove usage! Excepting the Christmas ham studs, though this year it transpired to be a Christmas pork...
ReplyDeleteI like a little clove in my pumpkin pie, but I do not put any spice but cinnamon in my apple pie. I did not know that cloves came from Indonesia. Remember clove chewing gum?
ReplyDeleteI add three cloves and a bay leaf when making chicken stock; it really brings out the flavour.
ReplyDeleteI tend to use it very sparingly - a little clove goes a long way, I think - usually in Indian-type dishes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ideas- will try a clove in my next batch of stock, and kedgeree.
ReplyDeleteBut 'clove chewing gum'?? never heard of that one PomPom! I am a regular minty-fresh gal!!