Spices of the East

You will think I’m crazy – two entries in a week?!? But this one will be short and not on the subject (and what is the subject somebody might ask). I do not know if the inspiration came from the Heart of Darkness which I’m reading now again or from Shantaram which I want to read again as the second part is on the shelf getting dusty. Or perhaps I have always had a weakness for anything “exotic”. Reading Marco Polo (I still have to describe my search for the Marco Polo’s home in Venice) or the descriptions of the discoveries (or conquests) of the Portuguese and Dutch in Asia one can not escape the scent of spices. Names like cardamom, cloves or my favorite nutmeg sparked my imagination. When I was growing up, Indian cuisine was not very well known in Poland and access to spices was limited. Hence when I read about Asia my mind worked like crazy and even the peppercorns seemed to me a luxury treat although when ground and added to the broth they weren’t so exotic anymore and an ordinary Pole probably did not think at Sunday lunch where did the pepper come from.

But back to the subject – as I got inspired I decided to take a trip with my senses of smell, sight and my imagination. I have a friend from Finland who spent a few weeks in southern India and brought me a gift of spices. And even though each of these spices is easy to get the fact that they came to me all the way from India makes them exceptional. So I made myself a cup of masala tea bought in Kenya and displayed my gifts.

Main characters of today’ story

So what do we have in the picture? On top we can see of course cinnamon sticks but it’s not so easy with cinnamon. This is the so-called Ceylon cinnamon (Ceylon is today Sri Lanka) which we usually add to cakes etc. But there is another variant, which is cheaper and also widely used – the so-called Chinese cinnamon (also called cassia cinnamon) and this is the one that you can see first from left in the bottom row. As they are often used interchangeably you can also add it to the cake although Ceylonese has a milder taste. Cassia is one of the ingredients of the Chinese blend of 5 spices.

Under the cinnamon we have yellow mustard seeds used to make mustard. Then the black peppercorns and cardamom. Cardamom was brought to Scandinavia some thousand years ago when Vikings discovered it in Constantinople. And even today the Swedes can not do without cardamom buns or widely popular in Scandinavia Akvavit, to produce which cardamom is used since the 15th century. It is also added to coffee and pickles.

The next row are similar looking seeds. First on the left we have cumin. It is widely used in Asia but also in Mexico and the Iberian peninsula.

Another seed is caraway or Persian cumin which Poles know very well from sauerkraut or bread. Next are the fennel seeds, widely used in English, French and Italian cuisine. Fennel seeds are used to make alcohols and are also another ingredient in the Chinese blend of five spices.

The bottom row is the already discussed Chinese cinnamon, star anise and cloves. The star anise is widely used in Chinese cuisine and yes, you guessed it – it’s another ingredient of the aforementioned blend. Sometimes if I do not have star anise I replace it with fennel seeds. And do not confuse it with anise which if used in the manufacture of ouzo.

Cloves! When I was small I thought the real name was nails 😉 But they do look like nails. Probably everyone knows where we use them but if not maybe it’s about time to have your first mulled wine of the season. In Sweden, before Christmas, you stick cloves in oranges and hang them in the window. They look very good and smell even better! But I will write about it in a few months time 😉

We still have on the right side of the picture two elements. These are Tej Patta leaves (Indian bay leaves) and nutmeg. Leaves are widely used in Northern India, added often to biryani dishes, amongst others. The nutmeg is used for cakes but also for vegetables and meats. You can also easily add a scoop to your mulled wine – it will definitely enrich the taste!

And that’s it for my collection of goodies. Autumn has begun and traditionally I want to cook heavier dishes so spices are sure to come in handy. Stay warm!