Allspice

Appears in

Pepper

By Christine McFadden

Published 2008

About

(also known as pimento, Jamaica pepper, English pepper, myrtle pepper)

Pimenta dioica

Though not a member of the pepper family and not particularly peppery, allspice played a key role in the early Spanish explorers’ quest for pepper, and as such, deserves a mention. It is unique in that it is the only spice grown almost exclusively in the western hemisphere, and, as a pepper look-alike, it lies at the heart of the confusion between peppercorns and chillies.

As most people know, Columbus’s voyage of 1492 culminated in the discovery of the New World rather than a westerly route to the Spice Islands. The story goes that on reaching Cuba, Columbus showed a bag of peppercorns to the natives and they, in turn, pointed him towards an allspice tree. Thinking he had discovered the much-coveted pepper he was after, Columbus named the tree and its berries pimienta, the Spanish word for pepper. (Adding to the confusion, he, and fellow Spanish explorers, referred to all natives as ‘Indians’ regardless of the country in which they were encountered.) Pimienta was eventually corrupted to pimento, although nowadays this is a term more often used in reference to the leaf rather than the berry.