Nutmeg
Nutmeg is one of the old spices. Along with cloves and pepper,
nutmeg has been cultivated for over a thousand years, and is quite popular
in America today- for barbecue, baking, and of course, holiday drinks. Nutmeg
trees are native to the Moluccas (the spice islands). Growing and cultivation
of the plants (and even the location of the islands) were secrets jealously
guarded by the Dutch East Indies Company, which kept a lock on nutmeg production,
in a very nasty way, for hundreds of years. Nutmeg trees have since been
transported throughout Indonesia, and also to the West Indies-most notably
Grenada, which has the perfect climate for growing large, beautiful nutmeg.
Nutmeg trees grow to be tall- up to 50 feet-and bushy, with glossy, dark
green leaves. The tree produces two spices: nutmeg, which is the inner seed
kernel of the pale yellow, peach-like fruit, and the softer flavored mace,
which grows as a lace-like covering over the nutmeg's outer shell. When
the fruit is fully ripened, it will split open, revealing a glimpse of the
fresh, scarlet-red mace inside. The nutmeg is largest and most flavorful
at this point. In Indonesia, the trees are cultivated on large plantations.
With enough space around each tree, the branches will bush out fairly low
to the ground, and the nutmeg can be harvested using a long, hand-held pole
with a woven wicker basket attached to the end. Where the trees are allowed
to grow wild surrounded by other plants on rocky slopes, such as in Grenada,
nutmeg is harvested by extremely talented tree climbers, doing all the work
by hand. While there are large plantations in Grenada, it is very common
to see people going to the collecting station, balancing a basket of harvested
nutmeg on their heads, to earn some money from the four or five trees on
the family property, or the wild ones along the road. The fruit of the nutmeg
tree are split and discarded (or used to make jam) before the nutmeg is
hauled to the collection area and drying building. The mace, which commands
a higher price, is carefully weighed and paid for, and then the same is
done for the nutmeg, still encased in its outer shell. The nutmeg is spread
out on wire mesh drying racks in long, low buildings with good air flow,
and is left to dry for several weeks. Sometimes nutmeg shells are lit and
left to smolder underneath the racks to aid in the drying process. At that
point the nutmeg will have shrunk a bit, and will rattle inside the shell,
which is then cracked off. The mace has also dried at this point, turning
from the most brilliant natural red color known to man (well worth a trip
to the Caribbean just to see), to a deep, amber gold. The nutmeg and mace
are then bagged up in burlap and shipped out, mostly to Holland where fine
nutmeg and mace are truly appreciated. Of late, increasing amounts are coming
to the US, where cooks are becoming more familiar with the traditional uses
of nutmeg and mace, and consuming quite a bit more. With the recent interest
in Island cooking, and the corresponding increase in grilling, nutmeg and
ginger-based marinades and rubs have become quite popular, just as they
are in the Caribbean. |
