Fragrant Spices

‘Nutmeg trees in full foliage filled the air with a penetrating perfume’

My violent allergic reaction to the consumption of chillies has meant that I’ve always erred in favour of the more fragrant spices — the seedy, the barky and the aromatic as opposed to the rooty and the fruity — steering well clear of my béte noire and potential assassin, the chilli.

Nutmeg and mace are sister spices. Nutmeg has a sweet flavour, with warm and spicy undertones, whereas mace is more pungent. They both derive from the fruit of Myristica fragrans, which has a shiny brown nut at its core. Nestling inside the nut lies a softer kernel (the nutmeg), and covering the nut is a peculiar bright red mesh (the mace). The soft mace is removed, pressed flat, and sun-dried until it turns a pale golden yellow. To obtain the nutmeg, the nuts are sun-dried until brittle and then cracked open with a light hammer blow.