All About Cloves<br /><br />Cloves are the unopened / immature dried flower of a tree in the myrtle family that is native to the Maluku Islands in Indonesia. <br />Today Cloves are commercially grown in many places around the Indian Ocean.<br />The name comes from the latin for nail - since they sort of look like nails.<br /><br />Species: Syzygium aromaticum<br />Plant Family: Myrtle<br />Origin: Indonesia<br /><br />Cloves are often paired with cinnamon or nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, citrus peel, star anise or peppercorns <br />They are a component in both sweet and savoury spice blends, and can be found in any number of desserts: think eggnog or pumpkin pie spice. <br /><br />They are a key component of Indian cooking<br />An onion studded with cloves is frequently used to impart incredible character to courts-bouillons, stocks and soups. <br /><br />They are used in a number of spice mixtures like: ras el hanout, curry powders, Chinese 5 spice, mulling spices for wine and pickling spices. <br />Cloves are very strong and a very small amount is needed in cooking<br /><br />Cloves are best bought whole and ground as needed. Once ground the flavour quickly deteriorates, so buying pr-ground is not advised. Whole cloves should be stored in an airtight container out of direct light.
