Some From Column A and Some From Column B
As goes this series, we have covered a great deal of the Spice Islands and India and Indonesia. That was not the plan, it just sorta worked out that way. Today we move.
Allspice is native to Jamaica. Columbus stumbled upon it on his second journey to the New World. Allspice is the dried fruit of the pimento Dioica tree and is native to the New World. It is picked when unripe, green, and allowed to dry in the sun where it hardens and turns dark brown and resembles a smooth, large black peppercorn. In the New World, this native tree does produce fruit in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, but the Jamaican allspice is the best. Best is defined by a higher percentage of the essential oil eugenol.
In a Pickle
Allspice is so named for its flavor which resembles a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The dried fruit has two tiny seeds inside, but the fruit itself is where the flavor is. As with all spices, if you can grind your own do so. Else wise, buy in bulk and in small quantities. Whole allspice berries are good in marinades and brines and are in pickling spice.
The allspice tree is an evergreen in the myrtle family, as is the bay laurel tree. In parts of the world where allspice grows, allspice leaves are uses as bay leaves to flavor foods and the wood is used to smoke meats.
Where It’s At
During the early years of the spice trade in Jamaica, the tree was guarded to prevent pirates and profiteers from obtaining seeds and growing trees elsewhere. But, a funny think happened on the way to the groves. All the tree growing efforts failed. The trees, which did grow from seeds, were found to have grown from seeds which germinated after ingestion and excretion from birds. What was discovered was the process of passing through the birds digestive system was necessary for the seeds to grow. Today, allspice grows on Tonga and Hawaii, from seeds transported by birds. Sorta makes you wonder just what is the wind speed velocity of an unladen swallow, doesn’t it?
History
Unlike so many of the spices from India, Indonesia and the Spice Islands, which required voyaging and manpower and long overland hauls to trade the spice at great cost to lives, product and equipment, allspice seems to be unblemished by such thuggery.
One possible reason for this is the late arrival—1737—to Europe of allspice. Europeans were well familiar with cinnamon and pepper and allspice, being the Johnny come lately, never caught on. In addition, the rather newly easy to obtain coffee and sugar were more popular.
The Essential Allspice…Oil
The essential oil is called eugenol and is similar to that of cloves in that it is a digestive and carminative (carminative means reduces flatulence). “The oil is classed as rubefacient, meaning that it irritates the skin and expands the blood vessels, increasing the flow of blood to make the skin feel warmer.”
Interestingly, the Russian soldier during the Napoleonic war of 1812 put allspice in their boots to keep their feet warm. It had the happy unintended (maybe) effect of mitigating some smell. Today, pimento oil is used in men’s toiletries (especially products with the word ‘spice’ on the label).
How to use it
Allspice shows up in dishes all around the world. In Jamaica it is used in jerk seasoning, in India it’s in curries. In Germany, sauerkraut and in the Scandinavian countries in soups and pickled herring. Mayans used it in embalming and South American Indians used it to flavor chocolate. Americans seem to underuse it, relegating it to pumpkin pie spice or mulled wines at Christmas.
Try adding some whole berries to rices, grind it and exchange it one-for-one for cloves or nutmeg.
Given that it has such warm overtones and multiple flavors, it might make an excellent flavor into an infused big kid beverage, say rum or vodka. Add a handful of berries and let that steep for 3 or 4 weeks. That’s gotta be good.
Speaking of good…cookies are good. Try these allspice shortbread cookies.
Allspice Shortbread Cookies
A shortbread cookie is a thing of beauty all year long. Add some allspice to it and the warmth makes a great winter time treat. Very good in summer too.
Ingredients
Allspice Shortbread Cookie Dough
- 8 oz Butter, room temperature
- 4 oz Light brown sugar
- 1.5 t Ceylon Cinnamon
- .5 t Allspice, ground
- 11.75 oz All purpose flour
- .25 t Salt
Cinnamon Sugar
- .25 C Granualted sugar
- 1 T Ceylon Cinnamon, ground
Instructions
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With an stand mixer, paddle the room-temperature butter with the brown sugar until mixture is light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the ground cinnamon and beat to incorporate.
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Sift the flour and salt. When the sugar/butter mixture is ready, add the flour to the mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until the dough just begins to come together, then stop. If the dough is crumbly, use your clean, bare hand to gently knead it until it comes together. Transfer the dough from the mixing bowl to a large piece of parchment or baking paper.
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Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a 9″ x 11″ rectangle. The dough should be uniformly thick, about 1/4″. Place another sheet of waxed paper on top of the dough. Slide the dough into a zip top bag, then carefully place on a sheet pan and store in the cooler 3 hours.
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Heat the oven to 300°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a long knife to score rectangles from the dough. Estimate three lines on the short side and then cut through. Cut each cookie 1" wide and transfer them gently to the parchment-lined baking sheets.
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Sprinkle cookies with the Cinnamon Sugar and bake for 18-20 minutes, until shortbread are just lightly golden, but not yet browned around the edges.
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Remove baking sheets from oven. Allow shortbread to cool 5 minutes before transferring to wire cooling racks, and allowing the cookies to cool completely before serving. It is the rules that you must taste one warm cookie from each pan just to make sure they are good.
Cinnamon Sugar
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Combine both ingredients together, mix well and store in a canning or resealable jar. Use liberally on Cinnamon Bagels
Being Polish has some advantages culinarily, but not when it comes to Jamaican food. For that, you need to head to the islands, and Christina’s Cucina did that. Here is the link to her recipe, generously provided to her by Chef Morris.
