CARDAMOM

(Elettaria cardamomum)

Cardamom (frequently misspelled and mispronounced “cardamon”), is the world’s third most expensive spice behind saffron threads and vanilla beans. It is the seed pod of a tropical plant related to ginger and turmeric native to India, but now also produced in other tropical regions including parts of Indonesia, China and Latin America. Sometimes called Grains of Paradise, cardamom is also one of the world’s ancient spices dating back more than 1,000 years before Christ. The ancient Indians used cardamom as a medicinal herb, ancient Egyptians chewed cardamom seeds as a tooth cleanser, the Greeks and Romans used it as a perfume and digestive aid as well as a culinary spice and over 800 years ago, it was introduced into Scandinavia by the Viking, where it remains popular to this day. In fact, it is more widely used in Sweden than cinnamon. No other classic spice has such a patchy geographical distribution and variety of uses. Cardamom’s European name comes from the Greek term kard for a bitter garden cress and the Oriental word amomon for a simpler kind of spice.

Obtained from a perennial rush-like herb growing 6 to 12 feet, cardamom plants are composed of sturdy rhizomes and stems covered with lanceolate leaves which prefer filtered shade. The trailing leafy stalks grow from the plant base and the inflorescences with a dozen or so yellow-yipped, blue-streaked flowers bear the seed pods. The pods are pale, sage green trilocular, nut-sized capsules and contain 4-8 black sticky seeds inside. True cardamom can be grown as a fragrant houseplant, however it will flower and fruit only under tropical conditions. Grown on plantations, primarily in India and Guatemala, the plants flower for eight or nine months of the year. It is a very labor intensive crop to produce as the fruit is individually picked by hand before fully ripe over a several month period, are washed and dried and sold as whole or split pods, decorticated seeds or ground into a powder. The whole seed pod is used as a spice more often than the individual seeds.

This unique and unmistakable, pungent, spicy-sweet, highly aromatic spice has a variety of typical culinary uses depending on region. Cardamom flavors spiced chai masala tea and curries in India, coffee in Arab countries called gahwa - a symbol of hospitality, baked goods in Sweden and ground meat in Norway. It is an important ingredient in many mixtures including, garam masala. Whole pods can be added to soups or stews and the outer shell will sort of dissolve, crushed pods can be used to infuse liquids for ice cream, custards or mulled beverages, seeds can be chewed as a breath freshener and freshly ground cardamom shines in baked goods, apple desserts or fruit salads. Use a light touch, a pinch is all you need to have an impact. An after-dinner infusion is not only refreshing, but an aid to digestion. Cardamom can also be used as a refreshing invigorating bath and is used extensively as a fragrance component in soaps, cosmetics, and perfumes, especially oriental types.

A great use of cardamom this time of year is for an Easter Egg Bread like the one seen here

or Easter Hot Cross Buns with Cream Cheese frosting.  Enjoy!

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me will live, even though he dies,
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die . . .”
John 11:25-26