Cloves

Cloves no longer have the importance in European cooking that they once had, when Asian islands were colonised in order to secure supplies to the West. But used selectively and carefully, clove is a fantastic and quite irreplaceable spice.

Clove tree	Ripening clove fruits	Dried cloves

Species:	Syzygium aromaticum.
Origin:	Eastern Asia.
Source:	The clove tree is endemic in the North Moluccas in Indonesia and was cultivated by the Dutch. Only after the end of Dutch monopoly in the 18th century were clove trees introduced to other countries. The most important production area today is the island of Pemba in Tanzania and cloves are also grown on Madagascar and other Eastern African islands. Indonesian clove production declined sharply after World War II but has recently recovered.
Used Part:	Buds. Essential oil is also produced by the leaves although they have no culinary use. The ripe fruits, known as mother of clove have only local use.
Family:	Myrtaceae (myrtle family).
Effect:	Strongly aromatic with a very intensive fragrance and a fiery and burning taste.
Etymology:	The English name "clove", along with the Spanish clavo, Catalan clau and Portuguese cravinho derive from Latin clavus "nail", due to the shape. The word entered English via the Old French clou and is related to the verb cleave and therefore also to "clove", as in a "clove of garlic". Most Germanic tongues have a word for clove related to German nagel "nail", e.g. German nelke, Danish nellike, Swedish neijlikor and Dutch nagel. In Western to Central Asia there are related names meaning "nail", e.g. Georgian mikhaki, Farsi mikhak and Turkish mıhlamak. The Basque iltze-kanela literally means "cinnamon nails". The word also appears in the Old Testament, but only meaning "finger nail" and "tip" rather than in reference to the spice. The botanical genus name syzygium derives from Greek syn "together" and zygon "yoke", for the same reason.
	In Old Greek cloves were known as karyophyllon which is a compound of two Greek nouns, karyon "nut" and phyllon "leaf". Cloves were traded in the seaports of South India and modern Dravidian languages still have similar names, e.g. Tamil karambu and Thai kanphlu. Japanese kurobu, on the other hand, is an adaptation of the English word "clove". Karyophyllonis was transferred, via Latin gariofilum, to the Romance languages, e.g. Italian garofano and French girofle. Further related words for clove are Turkish karanfil, Bulgarian karamfil and several Semitic names, e.g. Arabic qaranful and Amharic krinfud.
	In some languages, cloves share the name with the ornamental carnation dianthus caryophyllatus, e.g. German nelke, Italian garofano, Greek garifallo and Russian gvozdika. Another group of names for clove are found in India, e.g. Hindi and Punjabi laung, Urdu lung and Bengali labango.The Chinese term for cloves is ding xiang, loaned to Vietnamese as dinh huong and to Korean as chong-hyang. The first part of the name, ding, means "small" and also denoted a specific cutting technique to chop meats into rather small pieces. The second element xiang means "spice" or "fragrance" and is often found in the names of aromatics and well-flavoured foods.
	The botanical species name aromaticum, from Latin aromaticus and Greek armatikōs, means "aromatic" or "fragrant".
Uses:	Cloves are an ancient spice and, because of their exceptional aromatic strength, have always been held in high esteem by cooks in Europe, North Africa the greater part of Asia.
	Trade between the "clove island" Ternate and mainland China goes back at least 2,500 years. In China, cloves were not only used for cooking but also for deodorisation with anyone having an audience with the emperor chewing cloves to prevent any undesired smell. Arab traders brought cloves to the Mediterranean during the 1st or 2nd century BC.
	When Europeans found the clove-producing islands, they took great interest in securing a constant spice supply. The Portuguese, Spanish, British and Dutch all built fortresses in the 16th and 17th century.
	Cloves are rarely used in the cuisine of Indonesia. Nonetheless, Indonesians are the main consumers of cloves and use nearly 50% of the world's production in cigarettes. Their sweet, incense-like aroma pervades Indonesian restaurants, buses, markets and offices.
	Cloves are much loved by the Chinese, play an important role in Sri Lankan cooking and are extensively used in the Mogul cuisine of North India. They enjoy high popularity in the Middle East and many Arab countries and are a common spice in North Africa. In all these countries, they are preferred for meat and rice dishes. In Ethiopia, coffee is often roasted together with some cloves in the so-called "coffee ceremony".
	Cloves have less use in Europe, where their strong flavour is not so much appreciated. They are much used for special types of sweets or sweet breads and used with cinnamon for stewed fruits and rice. In France, cloves are used in long-simmered meat stews and hearty meat broths. In England, they are most popular in pickles.
	Many spice mixtures contain cloves. They form an essential part of Chinese five spice, frequently appear in curry powder, determine the character of the Mogul variant of garam masala and are a component of the Arabic baharat. Mixtures from Africa containing cloves are Moroccan ras el hanout, Tunisian gâlat dagga and Ethiopian berbere.
	A well-known European spice mixture depending on cloves is the French quatre épices. Cloves have also established themselves in Mexican mole sauces. The taste of the famous Worcestershire sauce is dominated by clove aroma. Besides cloves, the sauce contains garlic, tamarind, paprika, chilli, fish extract, soy sauce, treacle, vinegar and salt. There is no "authentic recipe" and different vendors sell their own creations.