Spices: Allspice
March 3rd, 2008 | Posted in Food Info, Spices | 1 CommentWhen I first heard of this years ago it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. It sounded like this one thing was literally “all spices” in one. At the very least it sounded like it would taste on the weird side. Since then I’ve learned that Allspice is a tree in the Myrtle family that originated and is grown mainly in Jamaica.
Allspice berries are cured and dried before use and are a dark reddish brown and a little bigger than a peppercorn. They don’t have much aroma until they’re crushed when it smells like a combination of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg with a hint of the heat in black pepper. It’s used a lot in Caribbean foods.
Whole berries of Allspice should be rounded with a rough surface with a dark reddish brown color and not smell musty. Ground Allspice should be dark brown and have a warm aroma. It should be a touch oily and never dry and dusty.
Just copy this code and paste it on your site where you want the link to appear:
Thank you for the information – I always wondered about exactly what allspice was because I’ve never really used it in cooking much but have seen it called for in recipes occasionally. From the description here it looks like the kind of spice that I might like. Later I might look up some recipes that use this ingredient so that I can experiment with it and find out if I like the taste.