Chicken Tropicana for wintry weather

All we need, really, is a change from a near frigid to a tropical attitude of mind. – Marjory Stoneman Douglas

No winter weather inside this pot. Nope. None at all.

We’re 24 hours away from what Environment Canada is calling a “weather bomb.” Apparently in a day and a half I will be looking out on a front yard that has up to 50 cm of snow. So much for spring.

Not a whole lot of ingredients have
to be bought.

Firmly in the "got lemons, make lemonade camp," this recipe will at least make you think of tropical places and summer fun. Sometimes the best cure for bad weather is to make the best of what you can do inside. Spring will come. I guarantee it.

Cooking is always therapeutic when a snowstorm hits. A tried and true favourite for me is to make bread. There’s something about the smell of homemade bread that can drive away even the deepest weather blues.

So is the smell of fried chicken. Double down with mango and pineapple and you’ve got a recipe that will make you entirely forget what’s going on outside.

There are a couple caveats with this recipe, but they both have the same basis: sugar. 

There’s a lot of natural sugar in pineapple and mango, so you can easily burn the chicken when you fry it after it’s marinated. Usually you can fry chicken on medium high or even high. Not this. Use medium temperature.

The same holds true when you are reducing the sauce. It can start to stick if you don’t stir it occasionally. So watch the pot.

This recipe takes a little while, but what else will you have to do while the snow is piling up?

The chicken marinating. Note the use of a glazed clay pot.

Chicken Tropicana

Marinade: 2 hours  |  Cook: 40 min  |  Serves 3-4

6-8 chicken thighs

1 medium sweet onion, diced

2 cups cubed mango, can be frozen

2 limes

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp cumin seed

1 L pineapple juice

salt and pepper, to taste

2 plum tomatoes, diced

1 tsp sugar, optional

1/4 cup cilantro

Place the diced onion in the bottom of a non-reactive pan (non-metal). Layer the chicken on top, then the mango, chilli and cumin. 

Pour enough pineapple juice in to just come to the top of the chicken. Squeeze the juice from one lime on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Marinate for 2 hours on the kitchen counter, or overnight in refrigerator.

After marinating, remove the chicken and fry skin side up over medium heat in a sauté pan that has a lid. As the chicken fries, fat will render out. Cook until browned on both sides, but not cooked through. Watch that the chicken doesn’t burn. Remove to a plate.

Discard all the collected fat except for about 1 tablespoon. Add the marinade and tomatoes to the pan. Cover and cook on medium, stirring occasionally, until the mangoes and tomatoes have softened. Add more pineapple juice as needed to keep it as a liquid.

Once the sauce has reduced to small into chunks, nestle the chicken into the sauce, cover and cook on medium-low for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.

Remove the cover, turn heat to medium and cook until sauce has thickened. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. Now is also the time to add the additional sugar if desired. Stir in the cilantro about 1 minute before serving. 

Just before serving, squeeze the juice from the remaining lime on top of the chicken. Serve with rice.

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Get your mojo on with Mojo di cilantro

Rock in the mainstream culture has lost a lot of its mojo. – Billy Corgan 

I’ve written about  this phenomenon before. When you purchase fresh cilantro at the grocery you have to buy a massive bunch of it. It’s a shame when most recipes only call for 1/4 cup or so, or as a garnish.

So what do you do with all that leftover green? Luckily there are options.

One really good way is to actually buy enough to make cilantro pesto. It’s almost, if not as good, as basil pesto and can be used in the same way. It’s especially tasty tossed with pasta and just-cooked-through shrimp.

Here’s another option for you. How about a livid green sauce than can go on steak and/or vegetables? It really gives them a kick.

This recipe is close kin to pesto. Really the only thing that’s missing is the nuts, and there is an addition of acid. In my case I used lime. This also helps preserve that wonderful colour.

I found on a Spanish site that it is also excellent on potatoes, polenta, fish and even as a dipping sauce for bread. Sounds pretty versatile to me. Especially when it’s made from an ingredient that we’re “forced” to buy too much of.

Mojo is a Spanish word for a variety of slightly acidic sauces that are served cold. Not quite sure what that may have to do with Austin Powers’ “mojo”... I have read that the term was also used at the turn of the 1900s to mean a Caribbean voodoo power that gave men power over women.

Apparently the sauces are common in the Canary Islands off the tip of Northwest Africa. It is from the Portuguese word molho (meaning sauce). So that would explain how the term came from the tip of Africa, Portugal and Spain to the Caribbean. The slave trade.

No idea when it mutated from meaning sauce to the ability to get “lucky.” So now you know far too much about the word mojo. Stun and amaze people at cocktail parties with your newfound knowledge.

Get your mojo on talking about mojo.

I tried growing cilantro this year but didn’t meet with too much success. I had it in a cast-iron planter. I’m not sure if it was a case of too much iron, or not enough water, or what, but it failed miserably.

I have had much better success in the garden with curly parsley and Italian parsley so next year we’ll try it there. Then I’ll really have too much cilantro!

Just below is the recipe for the mojo. I’m also tag-teaming it with a really great steak marinade. We served the sauce with the steak and slabs of roasted cauliflower. A fantastic meal.

Mojo di cilantro

Time: 5 min  |  Yield: 1 cup

1 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped

4 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 tsp coarse salt

juice of 1 lime

1/2 - 3/4 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients, except for the olive oil, in a food processor or blender. Pulse until ground into a purée. Scrape down the sides a few times. 

With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil. Start with 1/2 cup. If you desire a thinner sauce, add the additional 1/4 cup.

Make this sauce within an hour of using. If made hours ahead the cilantro may discolour.

Cumin Steak Marinade

4 steaks

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp veg oil

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp pepper

juice of 1/2 lime

Combine the marinade ingredients. Coat the steaks well and then let them marinate for 1 hour on the counter. Shake off the excess and then grill or pan fry in 1 tbsp of oil.

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Spicy Coconut Jerk Chicken

Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself. – William Shakespeare

Here’s another recipe I’ve been sitting on for a little while because the weather’s been so good. Yesterday I posted about homemade hot dog buns, and sporadically I’ve been posting about plants and gardening.

For any of you who think I’m not eating, fear not. I am.

This one’s actually kind of interesting. You make a marinade, which is then used to make both a sauce as well as flavour rice for a side dish.

It sounds like quite a useful marinade, doesn’t it?

This jerk has all the usual Caribbean suspects, such as garlic, sugar, thyme, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. Did you know the French name for allspice is Piment de la Jamaïque (Jamaican spice)?

But I chickened out (pardon the pun) on one ingredient: Scotch Bonnet peppers. They're very common in Jerk chicken. They are also peppers to treat with respect. They are very, very hot.

Peppers are rated by units of spicy heat called Scoville Units. Here’s a short breakdown of some common peppers SU ratings.

Scotch bonnet peppers. Photo: Wiki CC

Scoville Units, common grocery peppers

Bell pepper, cubanelle – 0

Anaheim, poblano – 1,000 to 2,500

Jalapeno, chipotle – 3,500 to 8,000

Serrano – 10,000 to 23,000

Cayenne, tabasco – 30,000 to 50,000

Thai chilli pepper (bird’s eye) – 50,000 to 100,000

Scotch bonnet, habanero – 100,000 to 350,000

The “Ghost” pepper (bhut jolokia) –  855,000 to 1.47 million

Most law enforcement pepper sprays – 1.5 million to 2 million

(Source Wikipedia)

I have had experience with scotch bonnet peppers in the past. I was making something (I can't remember what) and it called for sautéing scotch bonnet. They drove me out of the kitchen. Literally. Coughing and eyes watering.

So I’m a little leery of them.

If you are like me (white bread) you can substitute some peppers that have less heat. In my case jalapenos and some hot sauce.

jerk is supposed to be hot. If it isn’t, it isn’t jerk sauce. But if you’re worried about excessive spiciness you may want to do what I did.

And for goodness sakes if you use a scotch bonnet pepper DO NOT touch your eyes – or other delicate parts – after you cut it up. At least not until you have washed your hands a few times...

If you get the right balance of heat and other island flavours you will have a real Caribbean delight on your hands. It will be a recipe you keep coming back to, for certain.

Coconut Jerk Chicken

Prep: 2 hours  |  Cook: 30-40 min  |  Serves 4

8 chicken thighs

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium onion

2 jalapeno peppers (or, if brave, 1 scotch bonnet)

4 cloves garlic

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp fresh ginger

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp ground allspice (or 1-1/2 tsp whole)

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp clove

2 tsp salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

optional: 1/2-1 tsp hot sauce

1 cup rice

1/2 tsp curry

pinch of salt

2 cups water

398 ml can coconut milk (Rooster Brand Gold)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Place the chicken in a non-reactive (glass or ceramic) dish or a plastic bag.

Purée the next 16 ingredients in a food processor until fairly smooth. Pour the marinade over the chicken and let marinate for 2 hours on the counter. 

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the chicken and reserve the remaining marinade.

Arrange the chicken on a broiler tray. Make sure some of the marinade stays on the chicken. Bake for 30-40 minutes turning half way through, until the chicken reaches 180°F internal temperature when read with a meat thermometer.

Place 2 tablespoons of the marinade in a small stock pot and cook it until dry. Add the rice, curry, salt and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Then let sit off the heat for 5 minutes.

Sauté the remaining marinade in a saucepan until dry and cooked through. Add the coconut milk and let cook until thickened to a sauce that coats the back of a spoon. Add the cilantro a minute before the sauce is finished. Taste for salt and adjust.

If you wish, purée the sauce to make it smoother.

Serve the sauce on top of the chicken, with the rice on the side. Sprinkle a little more cilantro on top if desired.

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Easy Caribbean Beef Stew

I'm always excited by the unlikely, never by ordinary things. – David Hockney

It’s now 8:30am and I am already running late. I have a few things I need to do and a few things I want to do today. Hopefully it will all work out. Some of them may seem unlikely to happen, but with some judicious planning I'll get it all done.

At least it looks like the weather will cooperate. By cooperate I mean will not lure me outside. Right now it’s overcast and you can feel moisture in the air. 

I believe there’s light rain in the southern-most parts of the province. So much for the “no rain all week” forecast. Oh well. It’s better than yesterday. It was so nice it was hard to stay inside at the computer. Really hard.

Just another ordinary day in the country, I hope. It's those busy days when you need a recipe that's simple. Today’s recipe is an ordinary stew, if you can call tropical flavours ordinary. 

I try to avoid the ordinary when at all possible. And with a few simple pantry ingredients you can pull this off easily.

Just before the final 15 minutes.

If you can make beef stew you can make this. The only difference is in swapping out ingredients. Potatoes get replaced by sweet potato; water by coconut milk. And a plantain is added for a fun ingredient.

The rest is pretty much kitchen staples – tomatoes, peppers, spices, etc. Even though there’s nothing truly “exotic” in this, it’s far from ordinary. The result is a hearty meal with interesting Caribbean flavours.

This went together very quickly and then just did its thing on the stove. It’s a perfect kind of meal to have on a busy evening or weekend when you don’t want to spend a lot of time tending a pot.

Caribbean Beef Stew

Prep: 15 min  |  Cook: 40 min  |  Serves 6

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 lbs beef, cubed

2 medium onions

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 jalapeno peppers, diced

5 firm tomatoes, like Roma

After the final 15 minutes. The sweet potatoes and
plantain breaks down slightly and thicken the sauce.

1 lg sweet potato, peeled and chopped

398 ml can coconut milk

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cinnamon

6 whole cloves

1 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

1 whole lime, quartered

1 green pepper, seeded and chopped

1 lg plantain, peeled and sliced (or 2 small)

1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot with a lid. Brown the beef, in batches if necessary, and then remove to a plate.

Add the onions, garlic and jalapenos. Sauté for about 5 minutes. Then add the beef back in, the chopped tomatoes, sweet potato, coconut milk, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, thyme, bay leaves and lime. Season with salt and lots of pepper.

Cover, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Let cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Then add the green pepper, plantain slices and 3/4 cup of the chopped cilantro. Cook for another 15 minutes with the lid slightly ajar.

Remove the lime and bay leaves. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust.

Serve over white rice with the remaining cilantro sprinkled on top.

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Cupboard Caribbean – Coconut Rum Shrimp

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. – Marcel Proust 

Not what you think of usually for coconut shrimp!

My recent foray into Caribbean kitchens got me think about tropical ingredients and how varied they can be. It's not difficult to think about tropical food – and drinks – when the temperature outside is minus 15°C.

A favourite summer taste for many is coconut and rum, either flavoured (I should make some) or mixed in drinks like Pina Coladas. You can make a fantastic pasta sauce out of vodka. I wondered why not rum, with the right accompaniments – coconut being one.

The time was ripe to do some cupboard diving. I had a little rum left behind by my cousin, and a can of coconut cream in my pantry. I also had frozen shrimp from the last time they were on sale. One, two, three...

That was where my mind was when I started this. Two simple substitutions: rum for vodka, and coconut cream for regular cream. All one really had to do was figure out the right spices to bring it to the balmy Caribbean. 

Most likely candidate besides cilantro? Number four: Allspice.

What is allspice?

Allspice (Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta or newspice) is the dried unripe berries of Pimenta dioica, a small tree that grows in the Caribbean. The name came from the British, who thought it tasted like a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

This is allspice. Columbus first mistook it for pepper.
No wonder. Photo: Wiki CC

Dried berries store longer than ground and are more aromatic when freshly ground – like every other spice. So buy the berries whole.

The leaves can also be used for cooking, but loose their aroma when dried. Fresh leaves and bark are used to smoke meats. That's not something we need to worry about in Nova Scotia.

Allspice is one of the most important ingredients of Caribbean cuisine. It is used in jerk seasoning, moles and in pickling spice mix. It's also an ingredient in many sausage seasonings and curry powders. In North America, it is used mostly in desserts and baking because of its resemblance to cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. 

This next little fact reminds me of a George Carlin joke. Allspice has also been used as a deodorant. Mr Carlin's joke was "if you ever run out of deodorant, put a bay leaf under each arm. It won't stop you from perspiring, but you'll smell like soup!" Indeed.

Your spice cupboard

I'm going to give you some friendly advice. It's always good to have a very varied spice cupboard. That way whatever you want to make you'll probably have the seasonings on hand already. There's nothing worse than falling in love with a recipe and then not having what you need on hand.

But don't buy those glass jar spices from grocery stores. They're too expensive and they tend to get pushed to the back of your cupboard. You should see my mother's cupboard. A nightmare. Just buy what you would reasonably use in six months and put them in some cheap jars from the Dollarstore. Total cost is around $1.50 for the same amount you pay double that for from a grocery.

That's what the Bulk Barn is for – buying just a little of some weird spice that you may only use once every three or four months.

Here's another news you can use hint. Have a special place for your spices where you can see all of them – like a shallow shelf system on the back of a cupboard or pantry door. It only needs to be one jar deep. If you can see something, you're more likely to use it.

I really liked this sauce with the seafood. None of the flavours were overpowering. It's a gentle sauce with interesting flavours. If anything I would dial up the allspice, and maybe add a few chilli flakes or a jalapeno for some heat.

Other than that, all you need is a Pina Colada and a heat lamp. Just close your eyes, and sit back.

Coconut Rum Shrimp 

Prep: 5 min  |  Cook: 20 min  |  Serves 4

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

200 g mushrooms, sliced

298 ml coconut cream
1/2 cup rum

3 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 green pepper, diced

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 tsp ground allspice

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a wide sauté pan.  

Add the garlic and onions and cook for a few minutes. Then add the mushrooms and cook until they reduce down in size and some of their liquid has come out.

Add the coconut cream, rum, tomato paste and green pepper. Let the mixture cook until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. 

Add the shrimp, cilantro and allspice and cook just until the shrimp are no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Do not over cook them!

Add salt and cracked black pepper to taste.

Serve on wide rice stick vermicelli, or white rice.

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Multinational! Caribbean Banana Chilli Pork

Your life is the fruit of your own doing. You have no one to blame but yourself. – Joseph Campbell 

So much is made of Mexican cooking that it’s often assumed that all of the neighbouring cuisines are quite similar. Nothing can be further from the truth. Mexican cuisine has a significant Spanish influence. Not so in the Caribbean.

Central American cuisine (Mexico is in North America) is about as diverse as you can possibly imagine. It’s hard to think of another spot that, over the centuries, served as more of a “clearing station” for entry into the New World.

The Arawak, Carib, and Taino Indians were the first inhabitants of the Caribbean. Their daily diet included meat, vegetables and fruits such as papaw, yams, guavas, and cassava. It is believed that the Carib Indians added spices, like pepper, to their food. The Caribs are the indiginous people the region is named for.

Once the New World was "discovered," there was a steady stream of influences. Europeans brought African slaves. The slaves blended what they could of their native diet with that of the indigenous peoples. They also brought vegetables like okra.

Many Caribbean island locals eat a diet that contains ingredients of original early African dishes like cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, plantains, bananas and corn meal. Jerk cooking is from a technique from Africa used by hunters to help preserve food on long hunts.

After the abolishment of slavery by Europeans they went looking elsewhere for a cheap labour force. They found it in China and India. Sound familiar?

With the influx of those peoples came their cuisine – and curries and rice.

Portuguese traders also brought codfish from the North Atlantic.

Much of the fruit we associate with the Caribbean also came from outside sources, most notably the Spanish. Orange, lime, ginger, plantains, figs, date palms, sugar cane, grapes, tamarinds and coconuts all came from the Spanish.

Commerce with the American colonies introduced crops such as beans, corn, squash, potatoes, tomatoes and chilli peppers. 

So if you ever wonder why Caribbean cooking seems to be a catch-all, you now know why. Indigenous, European, Chinese, Indian all have been major influences. Each added its own special flavour and spice to what makes up one of the most interesting cuisines in the world.

So what does one make when faced with such diversity? How about something sweet and spicy?

Banana Chilli Pork

Prep: 10 min  |  Cook: 20 min  |  Serves 4

1 tbsp butter

2 firm bananas

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb cubed pork

1 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 tsp of salt

1 medium onion

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 red pepper, diced

398 ml can pineapple tidbits

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp allspice

1 cup pineapple juice

2 tbsp soy sauce

green onions

1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with a little water

Place a little butter in a non-stick pan. Peel and cut the bananas along their length (like a banana split). Fry the bananas until nicely browned. Cut into 1” pieces and set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok. Sprinkle the pork with salt and fry with the chilli flakes until just no longer pink. Set aside.

Add the onion, garlic and red pepper to the pork. Fry until the onions begin to soften. Add the pork back in and toss well. 

Drain the juice from the canned pineapple. There should be almost 1 cup of juice. Top up with water to that amount.

Add the banana pieces, pineapple tidbits, thyme and allspice to the meat in the wok. Add the pineapple juice and soy sauce. Bring to a boil.

Add the green onions and cornstarch slurry and toss well. Let the mixture cook just long enough to thicken and serve on fluffy white rice.

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Recipe: Brazilian Coconut Chicken

Latins are tenderly enthusiastic. In Brazil they throw flowers at you. In Argentina they throw themselves. – Marlene Dietrich

Finger lickin' good. At least to me. Sorry Colonel Sanders...

It’s not what you have, it’s what you do with it. We’ve all heard that saying before. More than likely in a "risqué" context.

I’m saying it because many of the ingredients in this recipe are the same as in yesterday’s Thai scallops. Hard to believe, right?

Look at those spices! I only cooked 2 pieces because
there was only two of us at the table.

Garlic, ginger, coconut milk, chillies, cilantro, lime… these are all the same as in yesterday’s post. But the result couldn’t be more different.

Brazilian cuisine is sort of a melting pot. Tropical ingredients first used by natives were incorporated by Spanish and Portuguese settlers. The slave trade brought African influences as did other waves of trade and settlers from other corners of the world.

It’s not surprising then that many of the ingredients from one tropical region make their way into the cuisine of another. The big one that’s missing from yesterday's post? Fish sauce. That definitely removes it from Southeast Asian flavours.

You might say this recipe was a way for me to use up some of my leftovers – especially cilantro. You always have to buy too much cilantro.

I'll solve that situation problem next year when I grow my own. My luck I'll exacerbate the problem...

I’m not going to go on at great length about this today. I’m a little short on time. You lucked out!

Suffice to say this was a delicious way to serve chicken – everything in balance. A slightly piquant sauce with hints of tropical flavours.

I actually cleaned the sauce off my plate with my finger with this one. (Don’t tell!!)

This is the sauce before the chicken is place in for simmering.

Brazilian Coconut Chicken

Prep: 30 min  |  Cook: 40 min  |  Serves 4

2 tsp cracked black pepper

2 tsp cumin 

2 tsp ground turmeric 

1 tsp cayenne

4 skinless chicken breasts 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 medium onion, chopped 

4 cloves garlic, minced 

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger 

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped 

4 plum tomatoes, chopped 

1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 can coconut milk 

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

juice of 1/2 large lime (about 2 tbsp)

salt to taste 

Combine pepper, cumin, turmeric and cayenne in a small dish.

30-40 minutes later. Dramatic change.

Place the chicken pieces in a zip-lock bag. Sprinkle with the spice mixture and rub thoroughly. Let the chicken sit on the counter for 1/2 to 1 hour.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan or Dutch oven. Place the chicken in the hot oil and brown on both sides. The chicken will not be cooked through. Remove to a plate.

Add the onion, garlic, ginger and jalapeno to the pot. Sauté on medium heat for about 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, green pepper, coconut milk and cilantro. Bring to a simmer and then add the chicken back into the pot.

Partially cover the pot and let cook for 30-40 minutes, removing the cover after 20 minutes. Stir occasionally as the sauce thickens.

Once the sauce has reduced squeeze the lime juice over the chicken. Taste for salt and add as desired.

Serve with hot rice and a little more cilantro on top.

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Ingredient of the Day: Cloves

Variety is the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavor. – William Cowper

Dried whole cloves. Can you smell them? Photo: Urban Hafner, Flickr ccl

I often use something in a recipe and then think “that would make a good post.” It’s funny because I always start out thinking I hnow what I’m going to write, but as I read about the subject the post very often takes on a life of its own. Cloves is no exception. I learn with you.

Clove flowers. Photo: YIM hafiz, Flickr ccl

For example, I kind of thought cloves were flower buds, but I wasn’t sure. Now I am….

Cloves are the dried flower buds of a tree in the Myrtle family. Guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus are other members in the same family. Cloves are native to Indonesia and  are harvested mainly in Indonesia, India, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

From Wikipedia

The scientific name of clove is Syzygium aromaticum. It belongs to the genus Syzygium, tribe Syzygieae, and subfamily Myrtoideae of the family Myrtaceae. It is classified in the order of Myrtales, which belong to superorder Rosids, under Eudicots of Dicotyledonae. Clove is an Angiospermic plant and belongs to division of Magnoliophyta in the kingdom Plantae.

Photo: G.Eickhoff, Flickr ccl

The English name derives from Latin clavus 'nail' (also the origin of French clou and Spanish clavo, 'nail') as the buds vaguely resemble small irregular nails in shape.

Clove is an evergreen that grows to a height ranging from 24–40 ft (8–12 m). The buds start off a pale color and gradually become green and then bright red. It’s when they’re red that they are ready for collecting and drying.

Cloves are wonderful in both sweet and savoury dishes. On Valentines Day (two days ago) I posted a recipe for chocolate cake with a pink clove drizzle. The clove with the chocolate was a wonderful combination. I also personally use cloves in my version of the classic Osso Bucco and a dish I made up that has Persian influences called Beef Marakesh. 

Photo: Amandabhslater, Flickr ccl

Cloves are used in cooking both whole and ground. They have a very strong and recognizable taste and smell so are often used very sparingly in cooking. Cloves are used in many of the cuisines around the world.

Cloves is a key ingredient in the Northern Indian spice mix Garam masala. In south Indian cuisine it is commonly used in biryani. Cloves are also used in chai tea. Mexican cooking uses cloves in combination with cumin and cinnamon, most famously in mole (pronounced mow-lay, not “mole”) sauce.

Due to their Indonesian colonial connection, cloves are common in Dutch cuisine. They are used in cheese, stews and baking. Most other European and North American uses are more commonly in baked goods as opposed to the main portion of the meal. This is a shame. Cloves really adds a lot to anything it's used in.

Non-culinary

This first use is sort of healthy, I guess. Cloves are used in non-tobacco cigarettes called Kreteks (they're under another brand name in the USA due to a law prohibiting them). I have had friends who tried to kick tobacco by smoking them. They smell terrible.

Cloves are an important note in perfume making because of their aromatic qualities. We all can capture some of this by studding an orange with cloves and hanging it. Or if you want your home to have a wonderful fragrance boil several whole cloves in water on the stove. The steam will fill the house with the essence of cloves.

Photo: Fras1977, Flickr ccl

Medical

Cloves are used in many of the more ancient medicines of the world where the essential oil is sometimes used as a painkiller. Clove oil is also used against various skin disorders like acne. It is also used in severe burns, skin irritations and to reduce the sensitivity of skin.

Western studies have supported the use of cloves and clove oil for dental pain. Clove may reduce blood sugar levels. The buds have anti-oxidant properties. Apparently clove has also been studied for treating premature ejaculation, but the studies have proven inconclusive.

Of course for any medicinal effect one must ingest far more clove (and far more often) than one would in a normal diet.There are clove supplements available, but there are several safety concerns and possible drug interactions.

So if you go looking for more information and think that clove is what you need talk to your doctor first.

Hopefully you now know a little more about cloves than before. I know I do. 

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