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Nutmeg and Mace origins uses recipes
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Origins and History Their first specific place of origin was in the Banda Islands,
Indonesia. Dutch explorers, in particular Van den Broeke and Jan Pieterscoon
Coen took away the first batch of nutmegs from there in 1608. Their spread and
popularity in Europe was meteoric.
Both
spices were still extremely popular in England and throughout Europe in the
18th and 19th centuries. The English word nutmeg
comes from the latin nux,
meaning nut, and muscat, meaning
musky.
However, Nutmeg was also known
to the ancient world. It has been found in Egyptian tombs and around the 13th
century the Arabs began to trade it in the Middle East and Mediterranean. Cultivation
and Processing The trees are currently
cultivated
principally in the Moluccas and the West Indies and elsewhere with varying
success.
In the processing of mace, the crimson-coloured
aril is removed from the nutmeg, flattened out and dried for 10 to 14 days.
During this time its colour changes to pale yellow, orange, or tan. Whole dry
mace consist of flat pieces which are smooth,
horny, and brittle which about 4cm/1.5 inches long (blades). The remaining fruit are also dried gradually in
the sun and turned twice daily over a period of six to eight weeks. Once dried,
the shell is then broken and the nutmegs removed. These are greyish-brown ovals
with furrowed surfaces and measure about 3cm/1-1/4 inches
long with a diameter of 2.5cm/ 1 inch. Mace
and Nutmeg in Cooking Mace
Store
Ground or Blade mace in an air
tight container as it quickly loses its flavour. If using blade mace, there is
no need to grate it: just crush between your fingers and sprinkle it in. Nutmeg
Whilst Ground Nutmeg is widely available and very convenient, it
does lose its aromatic properties more quickly than “fresh” nutmeg. It is
therefore preferable to obtain whole nutmegs and grate small amounts, using the
smallest holes on the grater, as and when required, storing the remainder in an
air tight container. General You
can substitute each of them for
each other in any recipe so don’t worry too much if a recipe calls for Mace
but you only have Nutmeg. Bear in mind however, that you will probably need a
little less nutmeg than mace. Below is a selection of nutmeg and mace recipes contained on this site. For a full list of nutmeg and mace recipes, visit the search page and type in " +nutmeg" or "+mace". Happy Cooking !
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