A Postcard from Sheridan

Hemphill notes that cloves were probably the first form of breath freshener and advises that due to their high pungency, they must be used sparingly in cooking as too many can be overpowering. And he talks about his amazement when a farmer in Kerala, southern India, cut open a ripe
nutmeg to reveal a flash of wet, shining blood-red mace.

Mace, it turns out, is the placenta which conveys nourishment from the fruit to the seed and although the two have some similarities in flavour, they are used in quite different ways nutmeg's warm full-bodied flavour goes well in cakes and biscuits and milk puddings and drinks and with vegetables like spinach, carrots, pumpkin and potatoes whereas mace complements seafood, chicken and veal.

Reading about the history of the various spices and where they have come from is like going on a journey to some exotic foreign country. Throw a few cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise and cardamom pods into a pan of water and let it simmer away whilst you are reading. It's an especially good trick to learn if you¹re selling your house the aroma is irresistible to potential buyers!


September 2004
Dear Reader, In his seductive, luscious book of reminiscences "Running In The Family", Michael Ondaatje writes of the perfumed sea which once surrounded Ceylon (Sri Lanka). "When ships were still approaching, ten miles out at sea, captains would spill cinnamon onto the deck and invite passengers on board to smell Ceylon before the island even came into view. This island was a paradise to be sacked. Every conceivable thing was collected and shipped back to Europe: cardamoms, pepper, silk, ginger, sandalwood, mustard oil ... tamarind, seven kinds of cinnamon". Seven kinds of cinnamon! Can you imagine? Cinnamon is a native of Sri Lanka and is probably the most popular cooking spice in the Western world. Just think of sticky cinnamon buns, coffee cakes, doughnuts, cookies, milk puddings, fruit pies, French toast. In Sri Lanka, sticks of cinnamon are used to perfume curries and it is always included as part of the savoury spice blends in India, Indonesia and Malaysia. Cinnamon is frequently confused with cassia, a stronger more aromatic spice than cinnamon. I actually prefer to use cassia in my baking as its fragrance is irresistible and, along with star anise, cumin, cardamom and black pepper, it's one of my very favourite spices. It's impossible to talk about spices without mentioning Ian Hemphill from Herbie's and his encyclopaedic tome "Spice Notes" (Pan MacMillan). The younger son of John and Rosemary Hemphill (pioneers in the use of herbs and spices during the 1950's), Herbie has spent most of his life growing and working with herbs and spices. Every conceivable spice from ajowan seeds (a close relative of parsley) to zedoary (from the same family as turmeric and ginger) is mentioned in the book along with suggestions on how to buy, process, store and use each one. Some like grains of paradise, mahlab and kokam are virtually unknown in Australia while others like galangal, curry leaves and turmeric are now grown here, a result of our love-affair with South East Asian food.	Hemphill notes that cloves were probably the first form of breath freshener and advises that due to their high pungency, they must be used sparingly in cooking as too many can be overpowering. And he talks about his amazement when a farmer in Kerala, southern India, cut open a ripe nutmeg to reveal a flash of wet, shining blood-red mace. Mace, it turns out, is the placenta which conveys nourishment from the fruit to the seed and although the two have some similarities in flavour, they are used in quite different ways nutmeg's warm full-bodied flavour goes well in cakes and biscuits and milk puddings and drinks and with vegetables like spinach, carrots, pumpkin and potatoes whereas mace complements seafood, chicken and veal. Reading about the history of the various spices and where they have come from is like going on a journey to some exotic foreign country. Throw a few cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise and cardamom pods into a pan of water and let it simmer away whilst you are reading. It's an especially good trick to learn if you¹re selling your house the aroma is irresistible to potential buyers! *return to current Postcard*