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+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #60192 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60192)
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook, Spices, Their Histories, by Robert O. Fielding
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-
-
-
-Title: Spices, Their Histories
- Valuable Information for Grocers
-
-
-Author: Robert O. Fielding
-
-
-
-Release Date: August 29, 2019 [eBook #60192]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-
-***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPICES, THEIR HISTORIES***
-
-
-E-text prepared by Turgut Dincer, Charlie Howard, and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images
-generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org)
-
-
-
-Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
- file which includes the original illustrations.
- See 60192-h.htm or 60192-h.zip:
- (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/60192/60192-h/60192-h.htm)
- or
- (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/60192/60192-h.zip)
-
-
- Images of the original pages are available through
- Internet Archive. See
- https://archive.org/details/spicestheirhisto00fiel
-
-
-
-
-
-SPICES
-
-THEIR HISTORIES
-
-Valuable Information For Grocers
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-
-Price Fifty Cents
-
-
-
-
-
-
-Copyrighted 1910
-By the Trade Register, Inc.
-Seattle, Washington.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS
-
-
- PAGE
- INTRODUCTION 3
-
- ALLSPICE OR PIMENTO 4
-
- CAPSICUM 7
-
- CINNAMON AND CASSIA 13
-
- CLOVES 21
-
- GINGER 25
-
- MUSTARD 31
-
- NUTMEG AND MACE 36
-
- PEPPER 45
-
- CUMIN, OR CUMMIN SEED 52
-
-
-
-
-SPICES
-
-
-
-
-INTRODUCTION.
-
-
-The history of spices, with other valuable information to all branches
-of the grocery trade, was originally written by Robert O. Fielding, of
-the staff of the Trade Register, in which the several articles appeared
-in various issues of that journal, duly protected by copyright, with
-the accompanying illustrations.
-
-Retail grocers everywhere will find this little book of especial value
-for study and reference. It is all meat for the salesman who realizes
-that success in trade these days depends upon knowing where the goods
-he handles were produced, how to judge their qualities, how they are
-prepared for market, and what are their uses. How to sell, the market
-conditions, etc., are continuously set forth in the weekly issues of
-the Trade Register, $2 a year, by men who have had practical experience
-behind the counter.
-
-[Illustration: Lovett M. Wood (signature)]
-
- Editor.
-
-
-
-
-ALLSPICE OR PIMENTO
-
-A Valuable Product From Jamaica Which Combines the Flavor of Cloves,
-Cinnamon and Nutmeg
-
-
-Allspice is the dried unripe berries of a tree of the myrtle family,
-the pimento, known botanically as Eugenia pimenta, or Pimenta
-officinalis. It’s an evergreen tree some 20 to 30 ft. high, with a
-slender, straight, upright trunk, much branched at the top; the bark
-is smooth, gray and aromatic; the leaves--which when fresh abound
-in essential oil--are 5 in. long, of an oblong shape and deep shiny
-green color; the blossoms--which appear in July and August--are white
-and fragrant; the berries (sometimes called corns), which form on the
-disappearance of the flower, are picked unripe, altho fully grown, they
-are of a greenish-purple color. After picking, the berries are dried in
-the sun or in kilns until dark brown and then separated from the stalk.
-The dried berries are light, brittle, of roundish form and crowned with
-the remains of the flower calyx in the shape of a raised, seared-like
-ring; each berry contains two dark-brown flattish, kidney-shaped
-seeds. If allowed to ripen, the berries lose their aromatic flavor and
-become merely sweet and pulpy. Only in Jamaica--where it is cultivated
-in plantations called Pimento walks--does the pimento tree grow to
-perfection, altho attempts are made to cultivate it in other West India
-islands and South America. It is thought to combine the flavor of
-cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, hence it is called allspice.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-=Uses=--Its chief use is for culinary purposes. It is a powerful
-irritant, good for dyspepsia, flatulency, gout, hysteria and toothache.
-It is often employed to disguise the nasty taste of medicine. Allspice
-yields volatile oil by distillation, which is used as a flavoring in
-alcoholic solution, is of a brownish-red, clear appearance, and has the
-odor and taste of pimento, but is warm and more pungent. A green fixed
-oil has the burning aromatic taste of pimento and is supposed to be
-the acrid principle. A tincture from allspice has been praised as an
-application in chilblains.
-
-=Substitutes.=--The Mexican spice, called Pimento de Tabascol is
-somewhat larger and less aromatic than Jamaica pimento. The berries
-of Pimento acris, (bayberry) whose leaves are used in the manufacture
-of bay-rum. The Carolina allspice--calycanthus florides, a shrub
-6 or 8 ft. high, with an odor somewhat like strawberries. Japan
-allspice--chimonanthus frangrans--which grows in Japan, and wild
-allspice--lindera benzoin--known also as spice-wood, fever-wood,
-benjamin-bush--a member of the laurel family growing in the United
-States. To secure uniformity of color these inferior kinds are often
-colored with Armenian bole, a kind of red clay from Armenia, and they
-are also often mixed in ground allspice, in addition to the stalks of
-the pimento. A kind of red pimento from Salonica is also used as an
-adulterant. During the civil war, when pimento was high in price, a
-substitute was made up of clove-stems, wasted rye, a little cayenne
-pepper, and some cassia; this was very acceptable, altho there was not
-an ounce of pimento in it.
-
-
-
-
-CAPSICUM
-
-Cayenne Pepper Is Made from This Branch of the Nightshade
-Family--Descriptions of the Various Varieties of Capsicum--Tabasco
-Pepper Sauce
-
-
-The capsicum is a genus of plants of the nightshade family (Salanacea)
-that grows luxuriently in all tropical countries and many species of
-which are cultivated in the temperate zone. Capsicum or Red Pepper is
-of American origin for these reasons: Fruits so conspicuous, so easily
-grown in gardens and so agreeable to the palates of the inhabitants of
-hot countries would have very quickly diffused thruout the old world,
-if they had existed in the South of India, as it has sometimes been
-supposed. They would have had names in several ancient languages, yet
-neither the Romans, Greeks nor the Hebrews were acquainted with them.
-They are not mentioned in ancient clinic books. The islands of the
-Pacific did not cultivate them at the time of Cook’s voyage in spite
-of the proximity of the Sunda Isle where Rumphines mentions their very
-general use. The Arabian physician, Ebn Baithar, who collected in the
-13th century all that eastern nations knew about medicinal plants, says
-nothing about them. Probably the first known history of cayenne pepper
-in Europe is that given by Martyr, who writes of Columbus bringing
-it home in 1493 and speaks of it being more pungent than that from
-Caucasus, probably referring to the Oriental black pepper. About a
-century later, Gerarde writes of its being brot into Europe from Africa
-and Southern Asia and being grown in European gardens. Probably the
-first record of its use is that by Dr. Chanca, who was physician with
-Columbus’ fleet in 1494, and who alludes to it as a condiment used in
-dressing meats, dying and other purposes, as well as a medicine. From
-the ground dried seeds and pericarp of certain varieties of capsicum
-we get cayenne pepper, so-called from Cayenne, in French Guiana, S. A.,
-whence it was imported by the French. Cayenne pepper is also called
-Calicut and Napaul, the names of places of export, and it was known as
-Guiana pepper over 300 years ago. The derivation of the word “Capsicum”
-is uncertain; it may be from Kapto, hot, on account of its pungent
-taste, or from capsa, a box, or chest, referring to the form of its
-fruit. The plant grows from 1 ft. to 6 ft. high and is fairly well
-branched; the flowers are white or greenish-white; the fruits of the
-several species are of various forms, round, oblong, cordate or horned,
-and contain a number of flattish seeds. The seeds after the removal of
-the pericarp, and then thoroly washed and dried, are entirely devoid of
-acidity and pungency. The hotter and drier the soil, the more acrid and
-pungent the fruit.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Used in moderate quantities, capsicum or cayenne pepper, promotes
-digestion and so prevents flatulence. The natives of Brazil boil the
-capsicums and dip their manioc bread in it, making a kind of fiery
-soup. They are extensively used in India in compounding curries and
-chutneys. In Bengal the natives make an extract from the small capsicum
-chilies of about the consistency of molasses. The bell peppers are
-pleasant stuffed with meats, fish, other vegetables, etc. The sweet and
-mild kinds fed to birds are said to improve their plumage.
-
-C. Annum is the most common species and contains a great many
-varieties, among them the Pimiento (not Pimento or allspice) commonly
-known as Spanish red peppers or morrons, also Paprika, or Hungarian
-sweet pepper. This species is never found growing wild.
-
-C. frutesens is sometimes called goat pepper and is generally described
-as the true cayenne. Its leaves are from 3 in. to 6 in. long by 2 in.
-to 3½ in. wide, the fruit is red, obtuse or oblong accumminate, ¾ to
-1½ in. long and ¼ to ¾ in. in diameter. It is very acrid and pungent.
-It is only cultivated in the tropical regions, as the seasons in the
-temperate climate are not long enuf to mature the fruit.
-
-C. baccatum is ovate of sub-round and about ¼ in. in diameter. C.
-baccatum have been known in the English gardens since 1731.
-
-C. facticulatum, also known as Mexican chilies, is a shrubby plant of
-Sierra Leone, and grows in Zanzibar; also known as small chilies, or
-red cluster peppers. The fruit, which grows erect, is oblong linear,
-not quite an inch in length and of a deep red orange color. Another
-variety, which are mostly consumed locally, have larger red and
-yellow fruit. Zanzibar capsicums or chilies, are dirty looking, of a
-brownish-red color and very hot. A variety from Japan are bright red,
-not so pungent as the other growths, but of finer aroma.
-
-C. ceresiforme, the fruit is spherical, sub-cordate, oblate or
-occasionally pointed. The flesh is firm, from 1-12 to ½ in. thick,
-and very pungent; from the shape of its fruit it is called the cherry
-capsicum, or pepper.
-
-C. grossum, originally from India, grows 2 ft. high, with a few
-branches and large leaves 3 to 5 in. long, the fruit is large, oblong
-or ovate, and is known as bell pepper; it is mostly used for stuffing
-and pickling; the skin being thick, soft and tender and of a mild
-flavor.
-
-C. abberciatum, with ovate fruit about 2 in. long. While this variety
-is used to some extent for pickling, it is cultivated more as an
-ornamental plant.
-
-C. longum grows to about 3 ft. high with comparatively few branches,
-the fruit is often a foot long and 2 in. in diameter. The flesh is
-thick and flavor mild.
-
-C. Acumination is about 2½ ft. high. The fruit, which is small, grows
-both erect and pendent.
-
-C. Conordes, with oblong linear fruit, which grows erect, is very acrid
-and pungent. It is known as tabasco capsicum or pepper. Bird pepper,
-bird’s-eye chilies, red-bird pepper, etc., are commercial names given
-to the mild, sweet varieties of capsicum on account of their being fed
-to birds. Nepaul pepper, commercial name for capsicum imported from
-that place in India. Nepaul pepper has an odor and flavor resembling
-orris root and a pod the color of amber when dried. It is most esteemed
-as a condiment, being aromatic and appetizing, and not so acrid or
-biting as is most cayenne. Paprika, commercial name for the mild, sweet
-varieties of capsicum, chiefly grown in Hungary, Spain, Portugal,
-Jamaica, Japan and Zanzibar.
-
-Japanese pepper is the fruit of Xanthoxylum, an entirely different
-genus of plants to the capsicum family. The fruit capsules when bruised
-are agreeably pungent and aromatic. It is much esteemed as a condiment
-in China and Japan.
-
-Tabasco pepper sauce originated with Mr. E. McIllhenny, of New Iberia,
-La., in 1868, from a variety of capsicum in which the fruit grows
-erect, and was brot by a soldier friend of Mr. McIllhenny from Tabasco
-in Mexico after the close of the Mexican war.
-
-Tabasco catsup originated with Mr. George Bayle of St. Louis, Mo. The
-base of it is said to be equal proportions of powdered capsicum and
-essence of tomatoes.
-
-Ground cayenne pepper soon loses its bright color when kept too long
-or exposed to the light, and becomes dingy in appearance, so it is not
-always wise to judge by looks alone, as red ocher, turmeric, mustard,
-rice, sawdust, salt, brick dust, etc., have been found in cayenne
-pepper.
-
-The large fruits or pods are commercially known as capsicums, and the
-smaller ones as chilies. The term pepper is a misnomer as applied to
-this spice.
-
-
-
-
-CINNAMON AND CASSIA.
-
-The Sweet Wood of Ceylon and the Aromatic Bark of the Present Day Often
-Confused With Cassia--Valuable Trade History.
-
-
-Cinnamon
-
-As in the case of sago and tapioca, a good deal of misconception
-prevails in regard to cinnamon and cassia, and as with sago and
-tapioca, one is often sold for the other by the uninformed. The word
-“cassia,” botanically speaking, has nothing whatever to do with the
-aromatic bark which we call by that name, but refers to a genus of
-plants of the bean family, from which are derived the dried senna
-leaves, an infusion of which our mothers induced us to take by the
-bribe of a piece of candy, altho we had “tummy ache” for a brief space
-afterwards. The word “cinnamon” is derived from two Malayan words
-“cassia” from the Greek word “kasian,” which occurs in Psalms XLV-8,
-and elsewhere in the Bible, where it is supposed to refer to the
-aromatic bark of the present day, was afterwards tacked on. That cassia
-(the bark) was known in biblical times is well authenticated. It is
-mentioned in a Chinese herbal published in 1700 B. C. under the name
-kwei.
-
-The earliest mention of cinnamon is in a list of offerings by
-Seleneneus Callinieus, king of Syria, and his brother, Antiochus
-Hierax, to the temple of Apollo at Miletus, 243 B. C. Among the gifts
-mentioned are: “2 lbs. of cassia and a like quantity of cinnamon.”
-From this it appears there was then a recognized distinction between
-the two barks. We do know that the cassia was obtained from China, but
-the source of the cinnamon is unknown, unless it was obtained thru
-the Chinese from Ceylon, the inhabitants of those countries being in
-frequent intercourse in ancient times, for the earliest mention we have
-of cinnamon as a production of Ceylon is by Kazwini, an Arab writer of
-about 1275 A. D.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-That cinnamon and cassia were extremely analogus is proved by the
-remark of the Greek physician Galen (130–200 A. D.): “The finest cassia
-differs so little from the lowest quality of cinnamon, that the first
-may be substituted for the second, provided a double quantity of it
-were used.” With this brief historical sketch we will now endeavor to
-point out the differences between the two barks.
-
-In the first place the word “cinnamon” refers solely to the cinnamon
-zeylanicium plant of Ceylon, where it is found growing wild, and was
-first brot under cultivation by De Koke in 1770. Here again, as with
-cloves, mace, etc., the Dutch tried to monopolize the trade. The giving
-away of a plant was punishable by flogging and the destruction of a
-plant involved the penalty of death. The tree grows to the height of
-20 or 30 ft., having a trunk 12 to 18 inches in diameter; the leaves
-are of a thick leathery texture, 4 to 6 inches long, very smooth and
-shining on the upper surface, glaucous with prominent netted veins
-on the under side, and are traversed by 3 or 5 ribs. The flowers are
-greenish-white and appear in clusters of threes. The fruit is an
-oval berry, not unlike an acorn in shape and color. The tree flowers
-in January and the fruit ripens in August. When the branches are
-peeled the finest sticks are said to be derived from the liber of the
-middle-sized branches, an inferior sort from the younger shoots, and
-that which is procured from the thickest branches is considered of
-little worth. The peeling commences in May and lasts until November.
-The shoots or branches, usually about ½-inch to ¾-inch in diameter
-and from 3 to 5 ft. long, are cut off with a curved pruning knife,
-tied up in bundles and carried to the peeling sheds. The bark is
-removed with a small, round-pointed knife, with a small projecting rib
-or cutter placed at right angles to the edge of the knife. With this
-knife the bark is split lengthwise of the stock. It is then carefully
-loosened from the wood for a short distance on either side of the
-slit. A similar incision is made on the opposite side and the bark is
-finally removed. The bark is then put in piles, covered with scrapings
-and matting and left for about two days, during which time a sort of
-fermentation takes place, which greatly facilitates the separation
-of the outer part of the bark from the cuticle and epidermis, which
-is carefully done by scraping with a small, curved knife, having a
-slightly serrated edge. This process is called piping. The piper sorts
-the bark as he scrapes it. He selects a slip suitable for the outer
-layer, about 3 ft. long, and packs within it 6 or 8 other pieces, all
-about the thickness of vellum paper--a mark which always distinguishes
-Ceylon cinnamon from cassia. They are then rolled up together and
-exposed to the sun to dry. It now resembles a tight roll of paper,
-the best quality being firm and compact, of a golden yellow color,
-smooth on both outer and inner surfaces. The cheaper grades are not so
-carefully made, having many short pieces in the pipes or quills and not
-so much attention is paid to obtain uniform size and color. At Colombo
-it is sorted into three kinds by government inspectors. The two finest
-kinds are exported, the third with the broken pieces being reserved for
-obtaining oil of cinnamon. It is formed in bales about 90 lbs. each and
-wrapped in double cloths made of hemp, and not, as stated by some, of
-the cocoa tree.
-
-Guava bark, soaked in the water left after the distillation of
-cinnamon oil and rubbed over with cinnamon oil, is sometimes placed
-inside good cinnamon quills and then it takes a man of Solomon’s wisdom
-to detect the fraud.
-
-
-Cassia
-
-Cassia, under the name of Kwei, is mentioned in the earliest Chinese
-herbal--that of the Emperor Shena-ming, who reigned about 2700 B. C.;
-in the ancient Chinese classics, and in Rh-ya an herbal dating from
-1200 B. C. In the Hai-yao-pen-ts’ao, written in the eighth century,
-mention is made of Tien-chu Kwei. Tien-chu is the ancient name for
-India, perhaps the allusion may be to the cassia bark of Malabar. In
-connection with these extremely early references to the spice, it may
-be stated that a bark supposed to be cassia is mentioned as imported
-into Egypt together with gold, ivory, frankincense, precious woods
-and apes, in the 17th century B. C. The accounts given by Dioscondes,
-Ptolemy and the author of the Periphes of the Erythrean Sea, that
-cinnamon and cassia were obtained from Arabia and eastern Africa; and
-we further know that the importers were Phoenicians who traded by Egypt
-and the Red Sea with Arabia, and it was imported hither from southern
-China.
-
-Cassia, according to Marshall and others, is the bark of the old
-branches and trunks of the cinnamon zeylanicium, while others assert
-that it is the bark of an entirely different species, namely, cinnamon
-cassia, a native of China, but also grown in Java. This view is the
-more probable, as no cassia is exported from Ceylon, it almost all
-coming from Canton. Regents have also very different effects on the
-infusion and oil of these two barks, which conclusively shows that
-they are obtained from different species. Cassia comes in bales, 2 to
-4 lbs., bound by strips from the bark of some other tree. The pipes or
-quills are thicker and rolled once or twice, and never contain thinner
-pieces within; the diameter of the bark is much thicker, harder, and
-not as carefully scraped. The color is a deeper browinsh-fawn color.
-The taste is more acridly aromatic, pungent sweet, at the same time
-more powerfully astringent yet muclignious. Cassia is often substituted
-for cinnamon. It is adulterated with cassia lignea, the bark of a
-degenerate variety of cinnamon zeylanicium growing in Malabar, Penang
-and Silhet.
-
-Other varieties of cassia are: Saigon cassia, the bark of an unknown
-species which appeared in commerce about 1875. The outer bark is not
-removed, has a gray or grayish-brown color, is covered externally with
-whitish blotches, warts or wrinkles.
-
-C. Aromaticum is believed to be the cinnamon of China and Cochin China,
-growing in the provinces of Kwantung and Kwangsi. The leaves are very
-much larger than the Ceylon tree, hang down from the stalks and have
-never more than three ribs. This is the species that yields the cassia
-buds.
-
-C. Tamala is a native of India, wild in Derwanee and Gongachora. It
-is cultivated in the gardens of Rungpoor. The dried leaves have an
-aromatic taste.
-
-C. Loureirii grows in the lofty mountains of Cochin China, to the
-west towards Laos, Japan. The flowers of cassia are produced by this
-species. The old and young branches are worthless, but the middle-sized
-shoots produce a bark that is superior to that of Ceylon. None of it is
-exported.
-
-C. Culilawan is a native of Amboyna. The bark when dry is aromatic
-like cloves, but less pungent and sweeter. It is used by the natives of
-Amboyna as an internal medicine and as a stimulating linament.
-
-C. Rubrium grows in Cochin China, and contains an essential oil,
-smelling of cloves, but not so agreeable.
-
-C. Sintoc is a tree about 80 ft. high, growing in the Neilgherry
-mountains, India, and the higher mountains of Java. The bark is of the
-same quality as the Amboyna cassia, but not so agreeable. It is more
-bitter and powdery when chewed.
-
-C. Xanthaneuron is a native of the Papuan islands and the Moluccas. The
-bark when fresh is very fragrant, but it soon loses its quality.
-
-C. Nitidum is a native of India. It is a shrub or small tree.
-
-C. Javanicum grows in Java and Borneo. It is a tree of about 20 to 30
-ft. high. The dried bark is of a deep cinnamon brown color; more bitter
-than the Ceylon cinnamon, and the leaves when rubbed have a sharp
-aromatic odor.
-
-Cinnamon of the Ceylon type is cultivated in Guyana, the Isle of
-St. Vincent, Cape de Verde, Brazil, the Isle of France, Pondicheny,
-Guadaloupe and elsewhere. There is, however, no probability that the
-tree will succeed as an article of commerce that has not the hot, damp
-insular climate and bright light of Ceylon.
-
-The barks of all these different species, including that of Ceylon, are
-classed as “cinnamon” in the pharmacopias of Austria, Germany, Hungary,
-Russia, the United States, France, Spain, Denmark and Switzerland,
-while in the United Kingdom cinnamon must be the bark of the Ceylon
-plant C. zeylanicium; the others being classed as cassia.
-
-
-Oil of Cinnamon
-
-Oil of cinnamon is made from the pieces and chips of the bark, it is
-of a red-yellowish color. Eighty pounds of bark yields about 8 ozs.
-of oil. It is very stimulating. It is often adulterated with oil of
-cassia, oil of cassia buds, oil of cherry laurel, and oil of bitter
-almonds--the latter is a very dangerous mixture.
-
-Cinnamon leaves yield an oil resembling oil of cloves, with which it is
-often mixed.
-
-The ripe berries of the cinnamon tree yield a volatile oil, similar to
-oil of juniper, and from the root is obtained camphor.
-
-Cassia oil is obtained from the leaves, buds, or bark. It is of a
-golden-yellow color, but turns brown with age. It is considered good
-for influenza.
-
-Cassia buds resemble nails with heads of different size and shape,
-according to the period of growth when collected.
-
-There is also a kind of wild cinnamon, or cassia, which grows in Cuba,
-but its taste resembles more that of cloves than of cinnamon.
-
-
-
-
-CLOVES
-
-Interesting History With Illustration Showing Flower, Bud and
-Fruit--Where Grown and Commercial Uses
-
-
-Cloves are dried, unopened calyces or flower buds of the clove tree,
-Caryophyllus aromaticus, a kind of myrtle, a native of the Molucca
-islands. In commerce they are chiefly distinguished by their place of
-growth and rank in the following order: Penang, Bencoolen, Amboyna, and
-Zanzibar. In addition to these there enter into commerce as secondary
-products, clove stalks and mother cloves, or the dried ripened fruit.
-The bulk of these secondary products are shipped from Zanzibar.
-
-The clove tree is an evergreen, 15 to 30 ft. high. It has a thin
-smooth bark and adheres closely to the wood, which is a gray color
-and of little use. The leaves are 3 to 5 in. long. The upper side and
-foot-stalk is red, shading to a dark color, while the under surface
-is green. The flowers grow in small bunches at the extremities of the
-boughs, very like the flower-buds of the lilac tree, and all are of a
-delicate purplish color. The calyx is long and forms the seed sack.
-As the blossoms fade the calyx changes color from yellow to red. If
-allowed to remain on the tree after this the calyx swells like that of
-the rose. In this state it loses its pungent properties and is called
-mother clove, and is practically of no value as a choice spice. The
-cultivated trees are kept pruned to about 8 or 10 ft. in height.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The harvesting of the flower-buds commences immediately after they
-assume a bright red color. Such blossoms as can be reached are plucked
-by hand, while those that grow on the upper branches are beaten down
-with bamboo poles and caught in clothes spread beneath the trees. They
-are then dried in the shade or by hanging on hurdles over slow wood
-fires--they lose about half their weight in the drying process. They
-are usually finished off in the sun, which gives them a darker color.
-The quicker they are dried the less the loss of aroma. Good cloves
-have a strong aromatic smell, a hot, spicy taste and a light brown
-or tan color. The season for harvesting is from September to March.
-A 10-year-old tree yields about 20 lbs. of cloves a year, the yield
-increasing up to 100 lbs. for a 20-year old tree.
-
-Penang cloves are from the Straits Settlements. They are large, plump
-and of a bright color. Amboyna cloves are not so large as the Penang
-and are of a dark brown color. Zanzibar cloves are smaller than the
-Amboyna, a bright reddish color and generally very dry. Pemba cloves
-are small and dark in color and mostly arrive in a damp condition, and
-therefore lose weight if kept long.
-
-Cloves have sometimes a portion of their oil extracted, which gives
-them a pale, thin, shriveled appearance, altho they may be freshened up
-by rubbing with a little oil or passed off by mixing with good cloves.
-Cloves that have been tampered with have a good proportion of their
-heads or knobs off; altho another cause for headless cloves is that
-they may have been gathered when too ripe.
-
-Pure oil of cloves is almost colorless, with a faint yellow tinge and
-the strong smell and burning taste of cloves. When old it turns to a
-reddish brown color. It has a greater specific gravity than water, in
-which it will sink.
-
-Clove stalks and mother cloves are used in the manufacture of ground
-cloves and mixed spices. In Brazil the flower-buds of the tree whose
-bark furnishes cloves cassia are often used as substitutes for true
-cloves. The clove tree attracts so much moisture that herbage will
-not grow beneath its branches and the clove of commerce has such an
-affinity to water that if placed near a vessel of water they will
-absorb enuf of the moisture in a few hours to appreciably increase
-their weight. It is said that dealers often take advantage of this to
-increase the weight of their goods and thus enhance their profits.
-
-=A Little Clove History=--This spice was well known to the ancients
-and is mentioned by several Chinese authors as in use under the Han
-dynasty, B. C. 266 to 220, during which period it was customary for
-the officers of the court to hold the spice in their mouth before
-addressing the sovereign, in order that their breath might have an
-agreeable odor. At this period the clove was called fowl’s tongue
-spice. In 1265 A. D. the price was 12s per lb. In 1609 a ship of the
-East India Co., called the Consent, brot 112,000 lbs. to England which
-was sold at 5s 6d per lb. As was the case with nutmegs, the Dutch
-attempted to control the business in cloves. With this object in view,
-they caused all the clove trees to be destroyed except those of the
-island of Amboyna. The natives of the island were compelled to rear
-a certain number of plants each year and also to protect the bearing
-trees. The French, however, found a number of clove trees growing wild
-in the smaller island, and Poivre, French governor of Mauritius, who
-obtained the plant from the island of Guebi, introduced the clove tree
-into that colony in 1770. About 1800 an Arab named Harameli-ben-Selah
-took some seeds and plants from Boubon to Zanzibar and commenced the
-cultivation of cloves in that country. The word clove is derived
-from the Latin clavus nail, Spanish clavo and French clou, owing its
-nail-like appearance.
-
-
-
-
-GINGER
-
-Used as a Spice by the Early Greeks and Romans--Plant a Native of Asia
-and Grew Wild in Mexico and Africa
-
-
-As a spice, ginger was used among the early Greeks and Romans, who
-appear to have received it by way of the Red sea, inasmuch as they
-considered it to be a production of southern Arabia. In the list of
-imports from the Red sea into Alexandra which, in the 2nd century of
-our era, were then liable to the Roman fiscal duty, ginger occurs among
-other Indian spices. It appears in the tariff of duties levied at Acre
-in Palestine, about 1173, in that of Barcelona in 1221, Marseilles
-in 1228 and Paris 1296. It was known in England before the Norman
-conquest, being frequently named in the Anglo-Saxon leech-books of the
-11th century as well as in the Welsh “Physicians of Myddvai.” During
-the 13th and 14th centuries, it was, next to pepper, the commonest
-of spices, costing on an average 1s 7d per lb., or about the price
-of a sheep. Three kinds of ginger were known to Italian merchants
-about the 14th century: (1) Belledi of Baladi, an Arabic name which
-applied to ginger would signify country, wild, and denotes common
-ginger; (2) Columbonio, which refers to Columbuno, Kolam or Quilon,
-a port in Travanore, frequently referred to in the middle ages; (3)
-Micchino, which denotes brot from or by way of Mecca. Marco Polo saw
-it in India and China, 1230–1239. John of Montecorvino, a missionary
-friar, who visited India in 1290, gives a description of the plant and
-refers to the root being dug up and transplanted. Nicolo de Conti, a
-Venetian merchant, early in the 15th century describes the plant and
-a collection of roots he saw in India. The Venetians received it by
-way of Egypt, and superior kinds from India overland by the Black sea.
-Ginger was introduced into America by Francisco de Mondoca, who took
-it from the East Indies to New Spain. It was shipped for commercial
-purposes from the islands of St. Domingo in 1585, and from Barbadoes in
-1654.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-Ginger is the dried, knotty fibrous rhizomes or tubers--“races” or
-“hands” as they are called from their irregular, palmate form--of the
-ginger plant (zinziber officinale) the real roots being the thin fibers
-that branch off from the rhizomes.
-
-The plant is a native of Asia, but also found growing wild in Mexico
-and East Africa. It is a reed-like biennial plant, not unlike the iris
-or flag in appearance. The leaves are long, similar to those of maize,
-growing alternate on a stem 3 to 4 ft. high. The flowers are borne on a
-separate stem, 6 to 12 in. high; they are yellow or blue, according to
-the quality of the soil in which they have been grown. The plant which
-produces the yellow flower and best ginger is grown on rich, deep,
-virgin soil; the other comes from poorer ground. Ginger is propagated
-by pieces of the rhizome being planted in March. The flowers appear
-about September, after they have withered and seeded. The roots are dug
-up about January. When left too long in the ground, the rhizomes become
-very fibrous, if taken up too soon they are tender and succulent, so
-much so that they cannot be made sufficiently dry to render them fit
-for export in the usual commercial form. They are therefore preserved
-in sugar. The rhizomes, besides being classed as “yellow” or “blue,”
-are also divided into “plant,” (being the rhizomes from plants of the
-same season’s growth), and “ratoon” which are rhizomes left in the
-ground from the previous harvest.
-
-Ginger is known in commerce in two distinct forms, termed respectively
-as coated or uncoated ginger,--as having or wanting the epidermis. For
-the coated ginger, the races of hands, after being dug up, are thoroly
-washed to free them from all the adhering earth. They are then laid
-on a canvas or cement floor, outdoors, to dry by the heat of the sun.
-At night they are taken indoors. It takes from 6 to 8 days to thoroly
-dry them. They are then ready for shipment. In damp weather they are
-artificially dried by an evaporator. In this form ginger presents a
-brown, more or less wrinkled or straited, surface, and when broken
-up shows a dark brownish fracture, hard, and sometimes horney and
-resinous. For the uncoated ginger the fresh-dug rhizomes, after being
-washed, are soaked in water for some time and then peeled or scraped--a
-most delicate operation requiring the hand of an expert. Owing to the
-peculiar formation of the races, no machine has yet been invented that
-will do the work satisfactorily. The outer rind or skin is deftly taken
-off by means of a common knife, so as not to injure the inner root, as
-a loss of the pungent volatile oil, to which ginger owes its value,
-would follow and thus impair its commercial worth. After being peeled
-the races are soaked in water over night. In the morning they are again
-washed, cleaned and weighed, and then dried in the same manner as
-coated ginger.
-
-It requires 3 lbs. of green root to make 1 lb. of dry root. The purer
-the water the whiter the ginger. Sometimes lime juice is added to the
-wash water, which gives a whiter root, but as lime juice contains
-sugar, it prevents thoro drying and mildew follows. Ginger is often
-subjected to a system of bleaching, or by immersion for a short time in
-a solution of chlorinated lime. The white-washed appearance which much
-of the ginger has is due to the fact of its being washed in whiting and
-water or even coated with sulphate of lime. Uncoated ginger varies from
-single joints an inch or less to flattish, irregularly branched pieces
-of several joints, the races of hands, and from 3 to 4 in. long. Each
-race has a depression on the summit showing the former attachment of
-a leafy stem. The color, when not white-washed, is a pale buff. It is
-somewhat rough, breaking with a short, mealy fracture, and presenting
-on the surface of the broken parts numerous short or bristly fibers.
-
-The best ginger grown comes from Jamaica. It is of a superior strength,
-fine flavor and a light, handsome color. A peculiar trade custom
-prevails in Jamaica with regard to ginger, which is not sold by weight
-or measure but by the “heap,” and the size of the heap governs the
-price and is an indication, to a certain extent, of the quality and
-quantity of the crop. If the heap is small, the price is high; if the
-heap is large, then the price is lower. If the races or hands, are
-finely shaped and large, there are fewer in the heap; if small, dark
-and mealy, the heap is made larger.
-
-The next best quality is Borneo or Cochin ginger, which closely
-resembles in appearance the Jamaica. It is not, however, so carefully
-prepared.
-
-African ginger, also termed Bombay or Calcutta, from the ports of
-shipment, is darker in color, has a coarser appearance, a harsher
-flavor and inferior aroma to either of the above, but contains a
-greater amount of oleoresin than they do and is very pungent. It is
-largely used for making ginger beer, essences, extracts, etc.
-
-Leaf ginger is ginger that has been sliced into thin flakes.
-
-Green ginger root, is that which has not undergone any process of
-cleaning beyond freeing it from the earth adhering. Imported in casks
-and used by wine makers, preservers, etc.
-
-Spent-ginger is whole ginger that has once been used, then fixed up to
-resemble good ginger and sold whole or ground. It does not possess a
-single one of the valuable properties of genuine ginger.
-
-China ginger is not imported in a dried state, the rhizomes being too
-tender and succulent to thoroly dry for export. It is preserved or
-candied. For preserving, the rhizomes are first scalded, then washed
-in cold water and peeled, then boiled in pans for 2 or 3 hours; then
-transferred to copper pans and boiled for 2 hours in a mixture of
-sugar and water--just sufficient water to cover the roots, 5 lbs. of
-sugar to 10 lbs. of ginger, the roots having been pierced with a sharp
-instrument to enable the sugar to soak into them. After boiling the
-ginger is put into large jars and stands for several days, when it is
-again boiled in sugar and water in the same quantities. After it has
-become cold it is packed in jars or tins for export. To crystallize,
-the same process is gone thru, only in the final boiling it is boiled
-until the sugar become dry.
-
-The Chinese season for preserving ginger is from July to October. It
-is nearly all prepared in Canton and Hongkong. A kind known as Ng Mai
-Keunig is preserved in Swaton, from Alpina galanga, but it is not like
-the Canton or Hankou ginger and is only made for native consumption,
-to be used medicinally or for cooking. Some of it goes to the Straits
-Settlement, but none to Hongkong. Jamaica preserved ginger is mostly
-put up in glass bottles. The uses of ginger are too well known to need
-repeating.
-
-
-
-
-MUSTARD
-
-Well Known to the Ancients, but More in a Medicinal Way--How Cultivated
-and Prepared for Commercial Uses
-
-
-Mustard was well known to the ancients, but more in a medicinal way
-than dietetic. From an edict of Diocletian, 30 A. D., in which it
-is mentioned along with alimentary substances, we must suppose it
-was then regarded as a condiment, at least in the eastern parts of
-the Roman empire. In Europe, during the middle ages, mustard was a
-valued accompaniment to food, especially with the salted meats which
-constituted a large portion of the diet of our ancestors during
-the winter. In the Welsh “Meddygon Myddrai” of the 13th century, a
-paragraph is devoted to the “Virtues of Mustard.” In household accounts
-of the 13th and 14th centuries, mustard is of constant occurrence; it
-was then cultivated in England, but not extensively. The price of the
-seed between 1285 and 1340 varied from 1s 3d to 6s 8d per quarter (21
-lbs.), but between 1347 and 1376 it was as high as 15s and 16s. In the
-accounts of the Abbey of St. Germain des Pres in Paris, 800 A. D.,
-mustard is specially mentioned as a regular part of the revenue of the
-convent lands.
-
-The essential oil of mustard was first noticed in 1660 by Nicolas le
-Febre and more distinctly in 1732 by Boerharroe.
-
-The word mustard comes from the Italian, murtard, which is derived from
-the Latin must-um, unfermented grape juice, with which the Italians
-formerly mixed ground mustard. The Athenians called it napy; while
-the Hellenistic name was sinapi, or sinapy, whence the Latin sinapi,
-or sinapis, from which is derived the German word senf. Hippocrates
-used mustard in medicine under the name of Vanuit. The dark seed, which
-comes from Trieste, Austria, is called Trieste mustard. Spoken of by
-Theophnastus, Galin and others. What is called French mustard, German
-mustard, etc., is made of the dressings mixed with vinegar, garlic and
-other spices and flavoring musterial. The form in which table mustard
-is now sold dates from 1720, about which time Mrs. Clements, of Durham,
-Eng., hit on the idea of grinding the seed in a mill and sifting the
-flour from the husk. This bright yellow farina rapidly attained wide
-popularity. The fame of “Durham Mustard” was spread far and wide, Mrs.
-Clements traveling to London and principal cities twice a year taking
-orders.
-
-There are two species of mustard plants from which ground mustard is
-made. The sinapes alba, white or yellow mustard, and sinapes nigra,
-brown or black mustard, is the mustard plant spoken of in Luke XIII,
-19. They are annual herbs, three to 6 ft. high, with lyrate leaves,
-yellow flowers, and slender pods, from one to four inches long,
-containing a single row of roundish seeds.
-
-One of the peculiarities incident to the cultivation of mustard is the
-fact that two crops of mustard cannot be raised on the same ground
-in succession. Another variety is sinapes arvenus, or wild mustard,
-called charlock and used for adulterating; the Sarepta, the black seed
-of the sinapes juncea, from the East Indies, is used for the same
-purpose. Sarepta is called from a city of that name in Russia, in the
-government of Saratov.
-
-The brown or black variety is sown in January and the yellow or white
-in March, the seed being sown broadcast and harvested in August. A
-reaper is used, cutting the stalks and throwing them in bunches, where
-they are left to cure until October. They are now thoroly dry and are
-taken to a convenient place, spread out upon sheets of canvas and
-rolled with a heavy roller. The stalks and empty pods are then raked
-off, and the chaff and seeds remaining are run thru a fanning machine,
-after which process they are ready to sack and market.
-
-There are two processes in use in making ground mustard. In the first,
-the seeds, white or black, or mixed, are ground to powder and then
-put thru an elaborate course of siftings. The product left after the
-first sifting is called “dressings” and that which passes thru is pure
-mustard flour. This mustard flour is again run thru a finer sieve, and
-so on until the required fineness is obtained. From the dressings left
-after the different sievings, the essential oil of mustard is expressed.
-
-In the other method, the oil is first extracted from the seeds by
-hydraulic pressure, which leaves a sort of cake. This cake is then
-broken up and pounded in a mortar. It is then sifted, that going thru
-the sieve being a kind of bolted mustard flour. The remaining bran
-is then mixed with an equal quantity of wheat flour, one per cent of
-cayenne and sufficient turmeric to give the proper color. This is
-pounded and treated as before, the process being continued until there
-is no bran left. Then all the different siftings are mixed together,
-giving a mixture of about equal proportions of mustard and wheat
-flour, with the cayenne and turmeric added in proper quantities.
-
-The peculiar pungency and odor, to which mustard owes much of its
-value, are due to an essential oil developed by the action of water on
-two chemical substances contained in black mustard seed; one called
-sinigrin and the other myrosin. The latter substance in the presence
-of water acts as a sort of ferment on the sinigrin, and it is worthy
-of remark that this reaction does not take place in the presence of
-boiling water and, therefore, it is not proper to use very hot water
-in the preparation of mustard, cold water only should be used. White
-mustard seed contains in the place of sinigrin a peculiar acrid
-substance called sinalbin and also a trace of myrosin, therefore, it
-possesses very little pungency and it produces a larger percentage
-of flour than the black. The proper blending of these two seeds is
-necessary to the production of the best mustard, as the white has the
-peculiar ferment within it which develops to the highest degree the
-flavor of the black.
-
-The reason for mixing wheat flour, rice flour or other farina with
-pure mustard flour is, that owing to the large amount of oil contained
-in the latter it will not keep long, but turns rancid, ferments and
-cakes; the added farinas by absorbing a portion of the oil retards
-fermentation, decomposition and rancidity. They should not be looked
-upon as adulterants, unless added in too great quantities, and the
-price of the mustard should be in proportion to the added absorbents.
-
-A mean form of adulteration is to mix gypsum and chrome yellow with the
-ground mustard seed.
-
-If upon the addition of a small quantity of iodine to ground
-mustard it turns blue, it shows that starch is present. The ammonia
-test will show the presence of turmeric. Every manufacturer has his
-own particular formula, and consequently there are many different
-qualities, both in the pure mustard and the compounds. One is composed
-of 37 per cent brown and 50 per cent white mustard flour, 10 per cent
-of rice flour, 3 per cent of black pepper, a little Chili pepper and
-ginger.
-
-Pure mustard oil, as pressed from the seed, is not pungent and will not
-blister unless mixed with water.
-
-The English mustard seed is the best in the world. Of this class
-4,995,800 lbs. of seed and 1,307,202 lbs. of flour were imported during
-the year 1908. Mustard seed and flour from Italy is known as Trieste.
-In the Lompoe valley, California, some 2,500 acres are under mustard
-cultivation, and a small quantity is also grown in Kentucky.
-
-The uses of mustard are too well known to need recapitulation. D. S. F.
-means double superfine.
-
-
-
-
-NUTMEG AND MACE
-
-Where the Nutmeg Tree Grows--Yield of Nuts and Mace and How Prepared
-for the Market--Uses in Commerce
-
-
-The nutmeg tree, known to botanists as Myristica frangrans (sweet
-smelling) is a native of the Malay archipelago. The tree, which in the
-Banda isles grows to the height of 50 to 60 ft., and in the Straits to
-30 to 40 ft., resembles the pear tree in the shape of its leaves and
-fruit. Its flowers are like those of the lily of the valley in form and
-size, but are pale yellow and exceedingly fragrant. There are male and
-female flowers, the nutmegs being obtained from the latter. It is only
-when the tree is about 6 or 8 years old that the female tree can be
-distinguished from the male, and of the latter only a few are allowed
-to remain for fertilizing purposes, the rest being cut down. The nutmeg
-tree continues to yield from 70 to 80 years after reaching maturity (8
-years). Each tree on an average will produce 10 lbs. of nutmegs and 1½
-lbs. of mace annually. The fruit is yellowish, edible drupe, about the
-size of a peach; it splits into halves when at maturity--about 9 months
-from the time of blossoming--exposing a single seed with a thin, hard
-shell, surrounded by a fibrous substance of a crimson color, which,
-when dried and shelled becomes the nutmeg. The young drupes, when
-young and tender, are often preserved like jam and are considered the
-most aromatic and delicious of conserves. Altho the nutmeg tree has
-ripe fruit upon it at all seasons, there are three principal periods
-of harvesting, viz: July, when the fruit is most abundant, though
-it yields thin mace; November, when the mace is thicker, though the
-nutmegs are smaller, and March, when both mace and nutmegs reach their
-greatest perfection--but as this season is dry the production is not
-great.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-The usual method of gathering in the Straits is to collect the ripe
-nuts that have fallen on the ground. In the Banda islands, the fruits
-are gathered in small, neatly-made, oval bamboo baskets--holding about
-3 fruit--at the end of a long bamboo stick, which prevents bruising,
-the baskets being opened for about half their length on one side, and
-furnished with two small prongs projecting from the top, by which the
-fruit stalk is broken, the fruit falling into the basket. After the
-pulp--which is about ½-in. thick, whitish in color, and tough like
-candied peel--has been removed the mace is stripped off by hand. The
-shell of the fruit is very hard and cannot be broken without injury to
-the kernel. To overcome this they are put into receptacles with fine
-mesh bottoms, and dried over a slow fire--being turned from time to
-time--until the kernel rattles freely in the shell, a process which
-takes about 6 or 8 weeks. This also kills any weevil which may be at
-work in them. They are then carefully cracked by placing them on a
-sort of drumhead made of raw-hide and striking them with a board or
-mallet, when the shells fly off into pieces. Great caution is needed
-in shelling, for if too hard a blow be struck it makes a black spot
-on the nutmeg, which affects its value considerably. After being
-steeped in salt water several times and again dried they are sorted
-according to size and soundness--130 to 140 to the pound are the lowest
-priced, 75 to 80 the highest, and larger nuts are sold at special
-prices. The sorting is done by hand, and nothing but sound, perfect
-nuts are supposed to be shipped. The broken and wormy ones are used in
-manufacturing “nutmeg butter,” or, as it is commonly but erroneously
-called, “mace oil.” They are now limed. There are two methods of liming
-in vogue--the dry and the wet. In the dry process, the nuts have dry
-lime powder rubbed over them, either by hand or shaking in barrels.
-In the wet process, the nuts are put into newly-slacked lime and then
-spread out to dry, or they are dipped into a kind of lime-pickle, thick
-as syrup, made of calcined-shells and salt water. After being covered
-with this mixture they are dried. The process of liming originated with
-the Dutch, with a view to preventing the germinating of the seeds, for
-which purpose they were formerly immersed for three months in milk of
-lime. Again it is claimed that liming preserves the nuts against the
-attacks of maggots and a particular kind or beetle by stopping up their
-breathing and chewing apparatus. A preference is still manifested for
-limed nutmegs.
-
-As nutmegs are now seldom shipped by sailing vessels, but by steamers,
-thus saving the long-time voyage, there is no reason why they should
-not come unlimed, and then the differences in their natural complexions
-and range of variations would become familiar and easily recognized.
-The liming process hides many imperfect or corky nuts; nuts which have
-been riddled with worm holes are “stopped” with a paste made of flour,
-oil and nutmeg powder and then mixed with the sound ones. Occasionally
-this paste is moulded into false nutmegs. Besides this, nutmegs are
-frequently robbed of part of their essential oil by distillation in
-alcohol--a process called “sweating”--and yet sold as entire nuts. A
-small quantity of boracic acid will accomplish the same purpose as
-lime, and Paris white and barytes will serve to mask the identity as
-well as the defects. A good nutmeg should have no worm-holes, be full
-of oil and cut firm like a piece of wood, and if a pin is thrust into
-one the oil should ooze out on its being withdrawn.
-
-The Penang nutmegs, which are generally not limed, are considered the
-best, altho some prefer the Banda or Batavia, and after these the
-Singapore. There is also a demand for an elliptical-shaped nutmeg of
-rank flavor, first called long nutmegs, but now known as Macassars.
-Another kind of nutmeg from New Guinea, and known in Germany as “horse
-nutmeg,” is from the species Myristica Argentea. It is of a long and
-narrow shape. In these the arellus or mace furrows are less marked and
-their odor is not so delicate as that of the true nutmeg.
-
-There are many kinds of wild or inferior nutmegs, such as: American
-Jamaica, or calabash nutmeg (M. monodora), of the custard-apple family,
-bearing a large pulpy fruit containing aromatic seeds. Brazilian nutmeg
-(cryptocarya moschata) a tree of the laurel family, producing nutmegs
-of an inferior quality. The nut is longer than the true species and
-is sold under the name of long nutmeg. California nutmeg, a tree of
-the pine family, called also stinking nutmeg or stinking yew, from the
-disagreeable odor of the leaves and wood when bruised and burned, and
-yielding a fruit resembling true nutmegs. Clove nutmeg, a Madagascar
-tree of the laurel family, the fruit a pungent kernel resembling the
-true nutmeg and used as a spice. Peruvian nutmeg, a large tree of the
-monimiad family, yielding an aromatic fruit. From Borneo a wild, soapy
-nutmeg and mace (M. fatua) are often palmed off as the true kinds.
-There is also the Sante Fe nutmeg (Motoba) from Columbia, S. A., and
-Ackaway nutmeg, a spice grown in Guiana, the fruit of Acrodiclidum
-camard. Another species, the M. sebefira, is a common tree in the
-forests of Guiana, north Brazil, and up into Panama. It is utilized
-principally for the oil extracted from the nuts, obtained by macerating
-them in water, the oil rising to the surface, and as it cools skimmed
-off. Ackawi nutmegs, used mainly as a cure for diarrahoea and colic.
-All these, while resembling somewhat the true nutmegs and sometimes
-foisted on dealers, are of very little real value.
-
-
-Mace
-
-When the mace, a bright-red membraneous substance, is removed from
-the nut it is pressed flat between blocks of wood and left to dry
-until it has acquired the right color. The preparation of mace for
-the market requires experience rather than technical knowledge. If
-packed too green it is liable to mold, and is subject to attacks from
-insects, which render it valueless in commerce. On the other hand, if
-it becomes too dry it loses its vitality and also crumbles into powder
-when packed. Packers frequently sprinkle the mace with salt water,
-which makes it more pliable and at the same time prevents attacks from
-insects.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-We may here state that nutmegs are divided into two varieties: The
-green, which are long and in which the mace only partially covers the
-nut; is darker in color and inferior in flavor and aroma; and the
-Royal, which furnishes the finest and best mace, firm, thick, flexible
-and oily, and entirely envelopes the nut.
-
-As with the nutmeg, mace is sometimes deprived of its essential
-oil, and mixed with wild mace or other flavorless matter. Myristica
-Malabarica, known under the name of Bombay mace, used to adulterate
-the true powdered mace, is much larger and more cylindrical than the
-arillus of the true nutmeg and has several flaps united at the apex,
-forming a conical structure.
-
-=Products=--Candied nutmeg and mace, nutmeg fruits in vinegar or salt,
-preserved nutmeg fruits, and nutmeg or mace essence made from the
-essential oil of nutmegs (not mace) and rectified spirits. An essence
-of mace is also made from 6 oz. mace and 2 pints cologne spirit,
-macerated for a couple of weeks, expressed and filtered thru paper.
-“Nutmeg butter”, “butter of nutmeg,” or mace, “concrete oil of nutmeg,”
-or “expressed oil of mace,” as it is variously called, is obtained by
-subjecting the nutmeg or mace to a great heat and then squeezing or
-pressing it in heavy presses. This substance is of a green color of the
-consistency of tallow and of a pleasant smell. A pound of nutmegs will
-make 3 ozs. of this oil, but a transparent volatile oil is obtained
-by distillation. It evaporates rapidly on exposure to air. When cold
-it becomes somewhat spongy and has a marbled or mottled appearance.
-It becomes hard with age and is exported in small bricks, 10 in. by
-2½ in., wrapped in palm leaves. It is known under several names, as
-nutmeg butter, balsam of nutmeg, concrete oil or the mace oil of
-commerce, and as Banda soap, sometimes made from the distilled nutmeg
-leaves, counterfeited by using a foreign fatty substance as palm oil,
-nut, wax and animal fat, boiled with powdered nutmeg and flavored with
-sassafras, which gives it the right color and flavor.
-
-=Uses=--Nutmegs, besides their use as a spice or condiment, are used to
-relieve sleeplessness when opium fails and chloral is not advisable.
-For diarrhoea, half a drachm in milk is an effective cure. Butter of
-mace is used as a liniment and embrocation for rheumatism and is also a
-favorite medicine for low stages of fever with Hindoo doctors.
-
-For ground nutmeg, all the faulty, broken, moldy, worm-eaten and wild
-nutmegs are often used.
-
-A little of the history of mace and nutmegs: It has generally been
-believed that neither the nutmeg or mace were known to the ancients.
-Nutmegs and mace were imported from India at an early date by the
-Arabians, and thus passed into western countries. Masudi, who appears
-to have visited England in 916–920 A. D., pointed out that the nutmeg,
-like cloves, arcca nut and sandalwood, was a product of the eastern
-isles of the Indian archipelago. The Arabian geographer, Edrisi, who
-wrote in the middle of the 12th century, mentions both nutmeg and mace
-as articles of import into Aden. They are also among the articles on
-which duty was levied at Acre in 1180. About a century later another
-Arabian author, Kozwim, expressly named the Moluccas as the native
-country of the spices under notice. One of the earliest references
-to them in Europe occurs in a poem about 1195, by Petrus D’Ebulo,
-describing the entry into Rome of the Emperor Henry VI, previous to his
-coronation in 1191. By the end of the 12th century both nutmeg and mace
-were found in northern Europe, even in Denmark, as may be inferred from
-the allusions to them in the writings of Harpestring. In England, mace,
-though well known, was a very costly article, its value between 1284
-and 1377 being about 4s 7d per lb., while the average price of a sheep
-during the same period was about 1s 5d, and of a cow 9s 5d. It was also
-dear in France, for in the will of Jeanne d’Evreux, queen of France, in
-1372, 6 ozs. of mace were appraised at the rate of 8s 3d per lb. In the
-middle of the 18th century, the Dutch, with the object of monopolizing
-the trade in nutmegs, destroyed all the trees in all the Moluccas
-islands, excepting Banda. Nature did not, however, sympathize with such
-meanness. The nutmeg pigeon, found in all the Indian islands, did for
-the world what the Dutch had determined should not be done--carried
-the nuts, which are their food, into all the surrounding countries,
-and trees grew again and the world had the benefit. In order to keep
-up the price, the surplus stock was burned up each year by certain
-unscrupulous men, as is proposed to do at the present day with the
-surplus stock of Brazilian coffee. In 1760, they burned at Amsterdam
-three such immense piles of nutmegs and cloves that one writer says:
-“Each of which was as big as a church.”
-
-This account of nutmeg would not be complete without “Connecticut
-Nutmegs.” Some 90 years ago Frederick Accum startled England with his
-book “Adulteration of Food and Culinary Poison,” and a sort of pure
-food hysteria passed thru the country similar to that caused by the
-boric acid investigation here. But he was eclipsed by a person who
-declared that the makers of wooden shoe-pegs in Connecticut were making
-oats and nutmegs from the discarded wood of sawmills. He asserted they
-were not only made, but used as food thruout the country. Thus was
-Connecticut christened the Nutmeg State, a name which it has retained
-even unto this day.
-
-
-
-
-PEPPER
-
-White and Black Varieties and Why--How the Plant Is Cultivated and
-Where--History the Grocer Should Know to Judge Qualities
-
-
-Pepper is a commodity to be found in every grocery store, but how many
-grocers know that the pepper plant--Piper nigrum--which produces the
-white and black pepper of commerce, is a climbing vine-like shrub,
-found growing wild in the forests of Travanscore and Malabar coast
-of India? It is extensively cultivated in southwest India, whence it
-has been introduced into Java, Borneo, the Malay peninsula, Siam, the
-Philippines and the West Indies.
-
-Pepper in the time of Alexander the Great was considered an extremely
-choice article and, like gold and precious stones, was for many
-generations found only on royal tables. During the Middle Ages, it was
-used as money in payment of tolls, etc., hence the custom of “pepper
-corn” rentals, i. e., a nominal rental or perpetual lease; and its high
-price is said to have been one of the causes which led the Portuguese
-to seek a sea passage to India.
-
-The pepper plant grows naturally to 20 ft. in height, but is cultivated
-on trellises or poles, about 10 or 12 ft. high and is propagated by
-cuttings or suckers. It has a soft stem, the leaves are 4 to 6 in.
-long, tough, glossy, broadly ovate, with 5 to 7 nerves, and grow
-opposite and alternate to a pendulous spike 5 to 8 in. long, having 20
-to 50 white flowers that ripen into a one-seeded fruit with a fleshy
-exterior. This fleshy berry, covering a soft stone, is about the
-size of a pea and is at first green, but in ripening turns red, which
-gradually darkens to a deep chocolate shade. The vine begins to bear
-when 3 or 4 years old and continues bearing for the next 10 or 15
-years. It is in perfection at its eighth year.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-There are two crops a year--July and December--which yield 5 to 6 lbs.
-of dried pepper each for a single vine. When the berries are ripe the
-stalk is pinched off by hand and placed in an oblong cane basket,
-slung horizontally behind the plucker by a rope around his waist. The
-rounded ends of the basket extend a little on either side, so that the
-basket can be easily filled by either hand of the workman. The berries
-are rubbed off the spikes by hand and placed on mats or on the bare
-ground, to dry in the sun, when the weather is fair. In damp or cloudy
-weather they are placed in shallow, open baskets before a gentle fire.
-If the berries are left too long on the vines they lose part of their
-aromatic, pungent hot taste, and if gathered too soon they become
-broken and dusty in drying. After drying, when they become black and
-shriveled up, they are cleaned and winnowed. Good black pepper is
-firm and not too deeply wrinkled, does not easily crumble or break
-in the hand, it is also heavy and readily sinks in water. The inner
-seed should be hard, round and smooth and of a grayish-brown color.
-The outside pericarp should be brownish-black. A yellow tinge betrays
-over-ripeness and consequent loss of strength. A reprehensible practice
-among some dealers to hide defective peppers is to artificially
-blacken them and polish with oil. The usual method of judging quality
-is by weight, the grades technically being known as heavy, or shot,
-half-heavy and light peppers or corns. A one-litre measure may be
-filled with the pepper and the contents weighed, or 100 corns of
-average size counted and their weight ascertained. The variations of
-peppers of different qualities, according to their habitat, are given
-in the following table:
-
- Weight
- Variety-- per litre
-
- Singapore 476 grams
- Tellicherry 548 ”
- Lampong 511 ”
- Mangalore 574 ”
- Malabar 570 ”
- Acheen 407 ”
-
-It is evident that the moisture present in the corns plays an important
-part in the determination of the weight, and it will be necessary to
-bring the peppers up to the stated water content by either drying them
-or placing them in a moist atmosphere, or first weigh them dry and
-weigh again. A slight variation, however, from the figures given, is
-unavoidable.
-
-Singapore Pepper--The principal part of this import is the product
-of Sumatra, Borneo and Siam, collected at Singapore. A considerable
-quantity, however, is the products of the Straits Settlements
-themselves. It is of large size and of a fairly uniform quality, but as
-pepper powder it is not much esteemed, owing to the manner of drying,
-giving it a smoky flavor that buyers can distinguish Singapore pepper
-from peppers grown elsewhere.
-
-Tellicherry and Alleppey are much alike in appearance, both being light
-brown in color. They too, like the Malabar peppers, are sun-dried.
-Mangalore (India) pepper is heavy, large, of a deep black color, very
-clean, and of uniform size. When powdered it is of a greenish-black
-appearance.
-
-The pepper shipped from Penang is called Irang pepper and is grown in
-Sumatra. From the east end of the same island comes the Lampong pepper,
-but this lacks uniformity, and is light in color. It is also sun-dried.
-Long pepper is the fruit spike of Chivaci Roxburgh, a native of Malabar
-and Chavica officinarum, a native of the India archipelago; they are
-both climbing plants. The first pods, or catkins, about 1½ in. long,
-grow nearly straight, and opposite the leaves. They are gathered before
-they are ripe and dried in the sun, when they become brown or dark
-green in color and rough to the touch. They lack the pungency of the
-black variety. The long pepper plant dies at the end of 3 years, and
-after the fruit is collected the vine dies down to the ground. The
-fruit grows so close together on the spike that when ripe they become
-one solid mass. There is also a variety of long pepper called elephant
-pepper. Long peppers are mostly used for pickles. A medium, called
-Pippua moola, is made from the roots and stems; it is very stimulating.
-
-Cubeb peppers are the berries of the vine Cubeb officinalis, a product
-of Java, Borneo and Sumatra, but mostly imported by way of Batavia
-and Canton. They are of a gray color, about the size of black pepper,
-somewhat longer, more wrinkled and with a short slender stalk. They
-have a hot, camphor taste. Another kind is distinguished by a mace-like
-odor and taste. Cubebs are now mostly used as a medicine.
-
-Ashantee or West African pepper is the dried berry of a pepper plant
-which grows in tropical Africa. It is smoother and smaller than
-the black pepper and resembles the Cubeb very closely. In taste it
-resembles the ordinary black pepper. At one time its importation was
-forbidden by the king of Portugal, as it threatened to interfere with
-the commerce of India.
-
-Betel pepper is the berry of Chavica betel, a species of climbing vine
-largely cultivated in the East Indies, Ceylon, Burma, Siam, etc. It
-furnishes the leaves which are used along with arecanut and other
-ingredients to compose the favorite stimulant chewing mixture of the
-people of India.
-
-White pepper is from the same plant as black pepper, with the
-difference, that to make white pepper the pepper corns are not picked
-until fully ripe; they are then soaked in water for 7 or 8 days, or
-heaped up so that the pulp ferments, then they are rubbed by hand, or
-on a coarse cloth, if the quantity be small, or trampled under foot
-if the quantity be large; this operation deprives them of the pulpy
-skin or husk, and the greenish-white seeds which remain are the white
-peppers of commerce; then they are re-dried, either in the sun or by
-artificial heat. White pepper is bleached whiter by a chemical process.
-If the berries be left on the vines until over-ripe they lose their
-pulpy husk by natural decay and thus become actually white pepper,
-altho in reality they are the kernels of black pepper.
-
-Singapore white are berries cultivated in the neighboring islands and
-the husks are removed at Singapore by hand and friction before the
-berries are fully dried. Penang white is really grown at Sumatra, but
-imported into Penang in a dried state. There the berries are soaked in
-lime and water for several weeks, until the pulp is soft, when it is
-rubbed off by hand and washing; the berries are then re-dried.
-
-Siam white are berries prepared in the same manner as Singapore white,
-from berries grown in Siam.
-
-The dried black peppers, as imported, are also decorticated or deprived
-of their husks by machinery, the result being white pepper, which is
-sometimes bleached.
-
-The active properties of pepper are an acrid resin, a volatile oil,
-and a crystallizable, colorless substance called pipertine, or peperic.
-Why white pepper should be preferred before the black is one of the
-anomalies of the trade. White pepper has really only about a quarter
-the strength of black pepper, and is the least economical to use for
-these reasons: (1) Because of being allowed to ripen it loses much
-of its pungency. (2) Because it is deprived of the outer skin or
-husk, which contains much of the constituents which go to make good
-pepper. (3) Because it contains scarcely a trace of piperin, one of
-the most active principles of pepper. Pepper rapidly deteriorates
-under atmospheric influences, and large stocks should not be carried
-unless provisions are made for storing it in air-tight receptacles,
-for, unless this precaution is taken, the goods in a few months will
-have lost their pungency, which is an essential characteristic of good
-pepper.
-
-Pepper is a stimulant, and used in moderate quantities is an aid to
-digestion. In India an infusion of it is used to create an appetite
-and as a cure for gout and palsy. It is also used in cases of
-cholera-morbus. A liniment is made from the berries for rheumatism, and
-the root is employed as a tonic stimulant and cordial.
-
-
-
-
-CUMIN, OR CUMMIN SEED
-
-Also Caraway, Coriander, Cardimons, Poppy, Aniseed, Saffron and
-Turmeric Described.
-
-
-Cumin, or Cummin Seed
-
-The aromatic fruit or seed of a plant of the genus Umbellefera. It is
-referred to in Scripture (Matt. xxxiii:23). As salt was a symbol of
-friendship, “shearers of salt and cummin” meant intimate friends. The
-seeds are linear and flat on one side and convex or striated on the
-other. Their odor and properties resemble the caraway, or anise seeds,
-and they are often called bastard anise. They are used in Germany
-in bread, in Holland they are frequently put into cheese. Norwegian
-anchovies in kegs are frequently flavored with them, and they are
-also used in making curry powder, as a carminative flavoring, and in
-veterinary medicines, etc.
-
-
-Caraway Seed
-
-The caraway plant has a branching stem 2 or 3 ft. high, with finely
-divided leaves and dense umbels of white or pinkish white flowers. The
-leaves are frequently used to flavor soup and the roots, which taper
-like a parsnip, and when young are boiled and eaten as a vegetable.
-The seeds are oblong, pointed at both ends, thickest in the middle,
-striated on the surface and of a crescent shape, they have an aromatic
-smell and warm, pungent taste. From the seeds is obtained a volatile
-oil called oil of caraway, of a pale yellow color which turns dark with
-age; it is frequently adulterated with oil of cumin. After the oil
-has been extracted the seeds are called “drawn caraways,” and by way
-of deception are often mixed with good caraway seeds. They can be told
-by their shrunken, dark appearance. The color of the English caraway
-seeds is a deep brown, those of Germany and Holland are larger and of a
-light blue-brown color, while those from Russia, Poland and Bohemia are
-small, of a blackish brown color, and mixed with a good deal of dirt.
-There is a variety of a light brown color, about twice the size of the
-English caraways, imported from Mogador.
-
-Caraway seeds and oil are used medicinally, as a flavoring by bakers
-and confectioners, in compounding various liquors, particularly that
-known as Kummel, and in making Scotch cavie, or caraway, comfits; for
-this purpose the seeds are coated with sugar and colored red, pink,
-blue, yellow, etc.
-
-
-Coriander.
-
-The word “coriander” is derived from the Greek word Koriannon, a
-bed-bug, referring to the disagreeable smell of the whole plant when
-fresh, but the ripe and perfectly dried fruit has an agreeable smell
-and a sweetish, aromatic taste. Its an annual or bi-annual plant, of
-the genus Umbelliferce, native of South Europe, with a branching stem
-1 or 2 ft. high. The lower leaves bipennate, the upper ones being
-more compounded and divided into very narrow divisions. The fruit
-is globose, containing round slightly ribbed or ridged seeds, about
-as large as black pepper, very light, of a yellowish brown or straw
-color externally; inside the husk of each seed are two closely fitting
-hemispherical mericarps.
-
-The seeds are used in medicine as a carminative. They cover the taste
-of senna leaves better than any other substance; are occasionally mixed
-with curry powder; in domestic economy they are used by confectioners
-and bakers as flavorings, being often mixed with bread in the north of
-Europe. A cordial is made from them, and they are used for flavoring
-spirituous liquors, particularly gin.
-
-
-Cardamons.
-
-Cardamons consist of the seeds of two species of plants, the Elettaria
-of Malabar and the Amomon of China, Guinea and other parts of the East
-Indies. As the seeds of the two species differ in some respects we
-will describe the Ellettaria kind. The plant, which grows 5 to 10 ft.
-high, has a reed-like habit and bear long, loose racemes of flowers,
-succeeded by triangular capsules, of a dirty white color, containing a
-number of dark brown, angular seeds about the size of mustard seeds.
-The capsules or fruits, which vary from ½ in. to 2 in. in length, are
-collected from wild plants and also from plantations, the latter being
-generally laid out in partially cleared forests in which the wild
-plants are known to occur. When about 3 years old the plants begin to
-bear. The capsules do not all ripen at the same time, and the harvest
-lasts for nearly two months. The capsules are gathered before they are
-ripe and then cured in the sun, after which the stalks and remains
-of flowers are carefully removed by means of scissors. They are then
-graded into “shorts,” “short-longs,” and “long-longs,” according to
-their length; sometimes they are mixed and classed as lesser or greater
-cardamons. Cardamon seeds are exported in the capsules in order to
-prevent adulteration. The seeds have a very delicate aroma and are
-slightly pungent. They were well known to the ancients, and are used
-at present in medicine, particularly in veterinary practice, also in
-flavoring culinary sauces, soups, curries, cordials, pastry, and for
-imparting a factitious strength to vinegar, beer, wines and spirits,
-especially gin; their use creates a thirst. The seeds depend for their
-quality on a pungent essential oil, of which they contain about 3 per
-cent, called oil of cardamons; they also contain about 10 per cent of
-a fixed oil. The seeds of the “Amomum” species of cardamons are bright
-black in color outside, white inside and small and angular in shape;
-they are slightly aromatic, very hot and pungent.
-
-Cardamons are known as grains of Paradise, Melegueta pepper, Guinea
-grains and Guinea pepper.
-
-
-Poppy Seeds
-
-Poppy seeds are not unlike fine gunpowder in general appearance,
-being very small, dark blue--nearly black in color; they are obtained
-from the same plant that yields opium (Papavar somnniferium, or
-white poppy.) The seeds are not narcotic, and have a sweet taste,
-are oleaginous and nutritious. They are largely used in some parts
-of Europe in pastry, confectionery and as a substitute for almonds.
-Under the name of “Maw seeds,” they are sold as food for birds during
-moulting season. Poppy seed oil is sometimes used as an adulterant in
-olive oil; it is also used as an illuminant and for painting.
-
-
-Fennel
-
-Fennel is a tall, stout, aromatic herb of the parsley family, with
-finely dissected leaves, which are boiled and served with salmon,
-mackerel, etc., as a seasoning; the flowers are yellow. A species--F.
-dulce--is cultivated in Italy as celery is with us; and its
-blanched stems are said to be more tender and delicate than celery,
-with a slight flavor of fennel. The seeds of another species--F.
-panmorium--grown in Bengal, have a warmish, very sweet taste and
-aromatic smell, and are used in making betel, in curries, and also used
-as a carminative. Fennel seeds resemble aniseeds in appearance and
-taste, and are often sold for such; they are a little longer and of a
-light brown color. The Indian seeds are the largest, the Italian and
-Japanese the smallest. They are used in confectionery, cookery and are
-sometimes chewed by the people of France and Germany. Fennel water is
-made from the oil obtained from the seeds.
-
- And he who battled and subdued
- A wreath of fennel wore.--Longfellow.
-
-
-Aniseed
-
-Aniseed is an annual plant of the order of Umbelliferae of the parsley
-family, a native of Egypt, but also extensively cultivated in Russia,
-Germany, Malta and Spain. Aniseed is very similar in appearance to the
-poisonous hemlock seed, for which it has sometimes been mistaken. The
-seed, which is a little larger than a pin’s head, is of a greyish-green
-color. They have an aromatic smell, and warm, sweetish taste, and are
-used in condiments, in cookery and in the preparation of liquors, also
-in medicine as a stimulative stomachic to relieve flatulence, etc.,
-particularly in infants. The properties of aniseed are due to a nearly
-colorless or sometimes blue volatile oil. Aniseed oil with water and
-sugar is much used in Italy as a cooling drink. The leaves of the
-plant are sometimes used as a seasoning and for garnishing.
-
-Star aniseed, or China aniseed, is the fruit of a small evergreen tree
-of the order Magnoliacae, somewhat resembling a laurel. It receives
-its name from the star-like form of the fruit or capsule, which
-consists of a number (6 to 12) of hard, woody, one-sided follicies or
-carpels ending in a point, each containing a single brown, shiny seed.
-Star aniseed is held in high esteem by the Japanese and is planted
-near their temples, the seeds being burned as incense in the temples
-and over the graves of relatives. The whole plant is carminative,
-and is used by the Chinese as a stomachic and as a spice in their
-cookery. The qualities of the seed and oil closely resemble those of
-the common aniseed and the oil is exported to Europe for the same
-purpose--flavoring liquors.
-
-
-Saffron
-
-Consists of the dried stigmas of the autumn or fall crocus plant
-(crocus sativus), which should not be confounded with the spring crocus
-(crocus vernus), to which it is nearly allied. The crocus derives its
-name from Crogeus--which is from the Greek word Krokus, yellow--the
-modern Korghy in Cilicune, where it was grown in ancient times. The
-word “crocodile” is derived from the Greek words Krokos, yellow,
-and deilos, fearful, on the ancient supposition the animal avoided
-the place where saffron grows and only sheds real tears when in the
-vicinity of a crocus field, hence Fuller says: “The crocodile tears
-are never true, save he is forced where saffron groweth.” The phrase,
-“crocodile tears,” arose from the idea that the crocodile pretended to
-cry over the victims it had devoured. Saffron was of great importance
-ages ago. It is mentioned in the third chapter of Solomon’s Songs; it
-was in favor among the ancient Greeks as a dye, and with both them
-and the Romans as a perfume. The streets of Rome were sprinkled with
-saffron when Nero made his entry into that city. In the middle ages
-it was employed in cookery and as a drug, and it is on record that as
-late as the fifteenth century persons were burned alive in Muremburg
-for adulterating saffron. It was introduced to England in 1339 from
-Tripoli by a pilgrim who had a stolen bulb in the hollow of his staff.
-Its main use was to color pastry and confectionery, hence: “I must have
-saffron to color the warden pies” (Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale, act 4,
-scene 1). The town of Saffron Waldron in Essex, derives its name from
-the fact of its being cultivated in that neighborhood until 1768. The
-cultivation of the crocus for saffron in England has entirely died out;
-altho the people of Cornwall at the present day use more saffron than
-all the rest of Great Britain. It is cultivated in China, Cashmere,
-Persia, Asia Minor, Egypt, Austria, Hungary, Russia, Italy, France, but
-the chief source of supply is Spain.
-
-A saffron field is not in full bearing until the end of the second
-year, at the end of the third year it is exhausted, and it is said that
-the soil is so poisoned that it cannot be used for any other crops for
-several years. Each acre produces from 600,000 to 700,000 bulbs and
-each bulb 2 or 3 flowers. About 150,000 flowers are required to produce
-2 lbs. of fresh pistils, which when dried are reduced to one-fifth of
-that weight.
-
-The small yield, the labor required, the care in culture and the
-difficulty of preserving the product in a good state renders saffron
-an expensive article--about 80c an ounce. On the seed-bearer of the
-flower there is a thread-like hook or fork, which at its upper head
-terminates in three thick, dark, orange-colored nerves or tissues; to
-save and collect these tissues the flowers are gathered in the fall,
-just as they are breaking, or a little before; they are plucked early
-in the morning, and these little masses are then pulled out with a
-considerable portion--about 1¼ in. of thread-like stem, to which they
-adhere. They are then dried over little charcoal fires or in the sun.
-It is this dried stigma, the trifid orange-colored tops of the central
-organ of the flower, that is the saffron of commerce. The remainder of
-the flower is useless.
-
-Saffron as it generaly comes to the trade consists of a large number
-of crooked and mixed-up threads, of an orange-red color; it has a
-peculiar, sharp, rooty and pungent smell, and a bitter balsam-like
-taste; that of a whitish yellow or blackish color is old and inferior.
-The great solubility of saffron prevents its use as a dye for
-fabrics, its place being taken by aniline dyes. Its coloring power is
-remarkable, a single grain rubbed to a fine powder with a little sugar
-will impart a distinct tint of yellow to 10 gals, of water; soaked in
-spirits or warm water it will yield three-fourths of its weight of
-a deep orange yellow coloring matter, which is perfectly wholesome,
-and if kept tightly corked will keep for some time. The chief uses
-of saffron are for flavoring and coloring confectionery and culinary
-articles; it is also used as a perfume and is given to birds during the
-moulting season. Spanish saffron is divided into five grades, according
-to the district in which it is cultivated. It is generally wrapped
-in tinfoil and then in white tissue paper and packed in tin boxes or
-strong cartons.
-
-On account of its high price saffron is often counterfeited or
-adulterated with the petals of safflowers, African saffron, Meadow or
-wild saffron, marigold, arnica, etc. It is also loaded with glycerine,
-glucose, dyed vegetable filamenta, honey, sulphate of soda, barium
-sulphate, etc., and exhausted saffron is sometimes re-colored with
-aniline dye. The stigma of genuine saffron immediately expands on being
-moistened with warm water, and its form is so characteristic that it
-cannot be mistaken for the flowerets of any of its adulterates.
-
-Cake saffron is generally made from the dried flowers of the
-safflowers--a thistle-like plant of the aster family--or the florets
-of the saffron plants made into a paste with gum-water; it is used for
-dying and making rouge.
-
-
-Turmeric
-
-Turmeric is an East Indian plant (curcuma longa) of the ginger family,
-with the same properties as ginger, only not so powerful. It is also
-grown in Zanzibar, China and the Malayan archipelago. It is a stemless
-plant with dark green leaves varying from 6 in. to 24 in. long and
-3 in. to 6 in. wide, flowers of a dull yellow color and a tuberous
-root varying in thickness from that of a quill to ½ in. in diameter
-and often a foot long, with joints or ring-like swellings at short
-intervals; of, a yellowish to orange color outside and sometimes
-white and sometimes orange color inside. They are classed as long or
-round tubes according to their shape. From the root is made a kind of
-arrowroot much relished by the natives of India to color their faces.
-In medicine it is used as a cordial or stomachic; as an anti-scorbutic,
-and for stimulating the digestive organs. In a fresh state it is given
-to expel intestinal worms and in diarrhoea. It is used in varnishes and
-ointments and as a dye for silks and woolens, but it is now chiefly
-employed in making Indian curries or pickles, mustard, compounds,
-pudding spices, chow-chow pickles. A kind growing in Bengal, called
-“Mango ginger,” from its resemblance to the mango, is used for the same
-purpose as ginger.
-
-Turmeric paper is a bibulous paper, yellow from saturation with the
-extract of turmeric, used as a test for alkalies, by which it is turned
-brown or red. Turmeric is also made from the roots of the canna, a
-member of the same family of plants cultivated at Sierra Leone.
-
-Turmeric is adulterated with yellow ocher and carbonate of soda.
-Turmeric is insoluble in cold water, only partly soluble in boiling
-water, but is quite soluble in alcohol, forming beautiful yellow
-crystals.
-
-
-Nasturtium
-
-The flower buds and fruits of the common garden nasturtium are often
-used as a spice after being ground and dried; they are also pickled
-like capers and used on fish, meats, etc. The name is derived from
-nausa, nose, and tortus, twist, from the effects of its pungent smell
-or taste.
-
-
-
-
- * * * * * *
-
-
-
-
-Transcriber’s note:
-
-Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
-predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they
-were not changed.
-
-Simple typographical errors were corrected; unpaired quotation
-marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left
-unpaired.
-
-A Table of Contents was added by the Transcriber.
-
-Page 28: “the races of hands” probably should be “the races or hands”.
-
-Page 32: “musterial” probably should be “material” or “materials”.
-
-
-
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-<body>
-<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Spices, Their Histories, by Robert O. Fielding</h1>
-<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
-and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
-restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
-under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
-eBook or online at <a
-href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not
-located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the
-country where you are located before using this ebook.</p>
-<p>Title: Spices, Their Histories</p>
-<p> Valuable Information for Grocers</p>
-<p>Author: Robert O. Fielding</p>
-<p>Release Date: August 29, 2019 [eBook #60192]</p>
-<p>Language: English</p>
-<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p>
-<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPICES, THEIR HISTORIES***</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<h4>E-text prepared by Turgut Dincer, Charlie Howard,<br />
- and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
- (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br />
- from page images generously made available by<br />
- Internet Archive<br />
- (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff; max-width: 80%; margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10">
- <tr>
- <td valign="top">
- Note:
- </td>
- <td>
- Images of the original pages are available through
- Internet Archive. See
- <a href="https://archive.org/details/spicestheirhisto00fiel">
- https://archive.org/details/spicestheirhisto00fiel</a>
- </td>
- </tr>
-</table>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<hr class="full" />
-
-<h1><span class="xlarge">SPICES</span><br />
-
-<span class="subhead">THEIR HISTORIES</span></h1>
-
-<p class="sep p2 center large wspace">Valuable Information For Grocers</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="max-width: 5.125em;">
-<img src="images/i_logo.png" width="82" height="104" alt="Logo" />
-</div>
-
-<p class="p2 center large">PRICE FIFTY CENTS</p>
-
-<p class="sep p2 center larger vspace">Copyrighted 1910<br />
-By THE TRADE REGISTER, Inc.<br />
-Seattle, Washington.
-</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2>
-</div>
-
-<table id="toc" summary="Contents">
- <tr class="small">
- <td> </td>
- <td class="tdr">PAGE</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">INTRODUCTION</td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">ALLSPICE OR PIMENTO</td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_4">4</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">CAPSICUM</td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">CINNAMON AND CASSIA</td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">CLOVES</td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">GINGER</td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">MUSTARD</td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">NUTMEG AND MACE</td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">PEPPER</td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">CUMIN, OR CUMMIN SEED</td>
- <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td></tr>
-</table>
-
-<hr />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 id="SPICES" class="notbold larger">SPICES</h2>
-</div>
-
-<h2 id="INTRODUCTION" class="nobreak">INTRODUCTION.</h2>
-
-<div class="sans sep">
-<p>The history of spices, with other valuable information
-to all branches of the grocery trade, was originally
-written by Robert O. Fielding, of the staff of the
-Trade Register, in which the several articles appeared
-in various issues of that journal, duly protected by
-copyright, with the accompanying illustrations.</p>
-
-<p>Retail grocers everywhere will find this little book
-of especial value for study and reference. It is all
-meat for the salesman who realizes that success in
-trade these days depends upon knowing where the
-goods he handles were produced, how to judge their
-qualities, how they are prepared for market, and
-what are their uses. How to sell, the market conditions,
-etc., are continuously set forth in the weekly
-issues of the Trade Register, $2 a year, by men who
-have had practical experience behind the counter.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="max-width: 28.75em;">
-<img src="images/i_p003.png" width="460" height="113" alt="Lovett M. Wood (signature)" />
-<div class="caption"><p>Editor.</p></div>
-</div>
-
-</div>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 id="ALLSPICE_OR_PIMENTO" class="sans">ALLSPICE OR PIMENTO<br />
-
-<span class="subhead sep">A Valuable Product From Jamaica Which Combines
-the Flavor of Cloves, Cinnamon and Nutmeg</span>
-</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="sep"></div>
-
-<p>Allspice is the dried unripe berries of a tree of the
-myrtle family, the pimento, known botanically as
-Eugenia pimenta, or Pimenta officinalis. It’s an evergreen
-tree some 20 to 30 ft. high, with a slender,
-straight, upright trunk, much branched at the top;
-the bark is smooth, gray and aromatic; the leaves—which
-when fresh abound in essential oil—are 5 in.
-long, of an oblong shape and deep shiny green color;
-the blossoms—which appear in July and August—are
-white and fragrant; the berries (sometimes called
-corns), which form on the disappearance of the
-flower, are picked unripe, altho fully grown, they
-are of a greenish-purple color. After picking, the
-berries are dried in the sun or in kilns until dark
-brown and then separated from the stalk. The dried
-berries are light, brittle, of roundish form and crowned
-with the remains of the flower calyx in the shape
-of a raised, seared-like ring; each berry contains two
-dark-brown flattish, kidney-shaped seeds. If allowed
-to ripen, the berries lose their aromatic flavor and
-become merely sweet and pulpy. Only in Jamaica—where
-it is cultivated in plantations called Pimento
-walks—does the pimento tree grow to perfection,
-altho attempts are made to cultivate it in other West
-India islands and South America. It is thought to
-combine the flavor of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg,
-hence it is called allspice.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="max-width: 23em;">
-<img src="images/i_p005.png" width="368" height="563" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p><b>Uses</b>—Its chief use is for culinary purposes. It is
-a powerful irritant, good for dyspepsia, flatulency,
-gout, hysteria and toothache. It is often employed
-to disguise the nasty taste of medicine. Allspice
-yields volatile oil by distillation, which is used as a
-flavoring in alcoholic solution, is of a brownish-red,
-clear appearance, and has the odor and taste of pimento,
-but is warm and more pungent. A green
-fixed oil has the burning aromatic taste of pimento
-and is supposed to be the acrid principle. A tincture<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span>
-from allspice has been praised as an application in
-chilblains.</p>
-
-<p><b>Substitutes.</b>—The Mexican spice, called Pimento
-de Tabascol is somewhat larger and less aromatic
-than Jamaica pimento. The berries of Pimento acris,
-(bayberry) whose leaves are used in the manufacture
-of bay-rum. The Carolina allspice—calycanthus
-florides, a shrub 6 or 8 ft. high, with an odor somewhat
-like strawberries. Japan allspice—chimonanthus
-frangrans—which grows in Japan, and wild allspice—lindera
-benzoin—known also as spice-wood,
-fever-wood, benjamin-bush—a member of the laurel
-family growing in the United States. To secure uniformity
-of color these inferior kinds are often colored
-with Armenian bole, a kind of red clay from Armenia,
-and they are also often mixed in ground allspice,
-in addition to the stalks of the pimento. A kind of
-red pimento from Salonica is also used as an adulterant.
-During the civil war, when pimento was
-high in price, a substitute was made up of clove-stems,
-wasted rye, a little cayenne pepper, and some
-cassia; this was very acceptable, altho there was not
-an ounce of pimento in it.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 id="CAPSICUM" class="sans">CAPSICUM<br />
-
-<span class="subhead sep">Cayenne Pepper Is Made from This Branch of the
-Nightshade Family—Descriptions of the Various
-Varieties of Capsicum—Tabasco
-Pepper Sauce</span>
-</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="sep"></div>
-
-<p>The capsicum is a genus of plants of the nightshade
-family (Salanacea) that grows luxuriently in
-all tropical countries and many species of which are
-cultivated in the temperate zone. Capsicum or Red
-Pepper is of American origin for these reasons:
-Fruits so conspicuous, so easily grown in gardens
-and so agreeable to the palates of the inhabitants of
-hot countries would have very quickly diffused thruout
-the old world, if they had existed in the South
-of India, as it has sometimes been supposed. They
-would have had names in several ancient languages,
-yet neither the Romans, Greeks nor the Hebrews were
-acquainted with them. They are not mentioned in
-ancient clinic books. The islands of the Pacific did
-not cultivate them at the time of Cook’s voyage in
-spite of the proximity of the Sunda Isle where Rumphines
-mentions their very general use. The Arabian
-physician, Ebn Baithar, who collected in the
-13th century all that eastern nations knew about
-medicinal plants, says nothing about them. Probably
-the first known history of cayenne pepper in
-Europe is that given by Martyr, who writes of Columbus
-bringing it home in 1493 and speaks of it being
-more pungent than that from Caucasus, probably
-referring to the Oriental black pepper. About a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span>
-century later, Gerarde writes of its being brot
-into Europe from Africa and Southern Asia and being
-grown in European gardens. Probably the first
-record of its use is that by Dr. Chanca, who was physician
-with Columbus’ fleet in 1494, and who alludes
-to it as a condiment used in dressing meats, dying
-and other purposes, as well as a medicine. From
-the ground dried seeds and pericarp of certain varieties of capsicum
-we get cayenne pepper, so-called<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span>
-from Cayenne, in French Guiana, S. A., whence it
-was imported by the French. Cayenne pepper is also
-called Calicut and Napaul, the names of places of
-export, and it was known as Guiana pepper over 300
-years ago. The derivation of the word “Capsicum”
-is uncertain; it may be from Kapto, hot, on account
-of its pungent taste, or from capsa, a box, or chest,
-referring to the form of its fruit. The plant grows
-from 1 ft. to 6 ft. high and is fairly well branched;
-the flowers are white or greenish-white; the fruits
-of the several species are of various forms, round,
-oblong, cordate or horned, and contain a number of
-flattish seeds. The seeds after the removal of the
-pericarp, and then thoroly washed and dried, are
-entirely devoid of acidity and pungency. The hotter
-and drier the soil, the more acrid and pungent the fruit.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="max-width: 22em;">
-<img src="images/i_p008.png" width="352" height="599" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Used in moderate quantities, capsicum or cayenne
-pepper, promotes digestion and so prevents flatulence.
-The natives of Brazil boil the capsicums and
-dip their manioc bread in it, making a kind of fiery
-soup. They are extensively used in India in compounding
-curries and chutneys. In Bengal the natives
-make an extract from the small capsicum chilies
-of about the consistency of molasses. The bell peppers
-are pleasant stuffed with meats, fish, other
-vegetables, etc. The sweet and mild kinds fed to
-birds are said to improve their plumage.</p>
-
-<p>C. Annum is the most common species and contains
-a great many varieties, among them the Pimiento
-(not Pimento or allspice) commonly known
-as Spanish red peppers or morrons, also Paprika,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span>
-or Hungarian sweet pepper. This species is never
-found growing wild.</p>
-
-<p>C. frutesens is sometimes called goat pepper and
-is generally described as the true cayenne. Its
-leaves are from 3 in. to 6 in. long by 2 in. to 3½ in.
-wide, the fruit is red, obtuse or oblong accumminate,
-¾ to 1½ in. long and ¼ to ¾ in. in diameter. It is
-very acrid and pungent. It is only cultivated in the
-tropical regions, as the seasons in the temperate
-climate are not long enuf to mature the fruit.</p>
-
-<p>C. baccatum is ovate of sub-round and about ¼ in.
-in diameter. C. baccatum have been known in the
-English gardens since 1731.</p>
-
-<p>C. facticulatum, also known as Mexican chilies, is
-a shrubby plant of Sierra Leone, and grows in Zanzibar;
-also known as small chilies, or red cluster
-peppers. The fruit, which grows erect, is oblong
-linear, not quite an inch in length and of a deep red
-orange color. Another variety, which are mostly
-consumed locally, have larger red and yellow fruit.
-Zanzibar capsicums or chilies, are dirty looking, of
-a brownish-red color and very hot. A variety from
-Japan are bright red, not so pungent as the other
-growths, but of finer aroma.</p>
-
-<p>C. ceresiforme, the fruit is spherical, sub-cordate,
-oblate or occasionally pointed. The flesh is firm,
-from 1-12 to ½ in. thick, and very pungent; from
-the shape of its fruit it is called the cherry capsicum,
-or pepper.</p>
-
-<p>C. grossum, originally from India, grows 2 ft. high,
-with a few branches and large leaves 3 to 5 in. long,
-the fruit is large, oblong or ovate, and is known as
-bell pepper; it is mostly used for stuffing and pickling;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span>
-the skin being thick, soft and tender and of a
-mild flavor.</p>
-
-<p>C. abberciatum, with ovate fruit about 2 in. long.
-While this variety is used to some extent for pickling,
-it is cultivated more as an ornamental plant.</p>
-
-<p>C. longum grows to about 3 ft. high with comparatively
-few branches, the fruit is often a foot long
-and 2 in. in diameter. The flesh is thick and flavor
-mild.</p>
-
-<p>C. Acumination is about 2½ ft. high. The fruit,
-which is small, grows both erect and pendent.</p>
-
-<p>C. Conordes, with oblong linear fruit, which grows
-erect, is very acrid and pungent. It is known as tabasco
-capsicum or pepper. Bird pepper, bird’s-eye
-chilies, red-bird pepper, etc., are commercial names
-given to the mild, sweet varieties of capsicum
-on account of their being fed to birds. Nepaul
-pepper, commercial name for capsicum imported
-from that place in India. Nepaul pepper has
-an odor and flavor resembling orris root and a pod
-the color of amber when dried. It is most esteemed
-as a condiment, being aromatic and appetizing, and
-not so acrid or biting as is most cayenne. Paprika,
-commercial name for the mild, sweet varieties of
-capsicum, chiefly grown in Hungary, Spain, Portugal,
-Jamaica, Japan and Zanzibar.</p>
-
-<p>Japanese pepper is the fruit of Xanthoxylum, an
-entirely different genus of plants to the capsicum
-family. The fruit capsules when bruised are agreeably
-pungent and aromatic. It is much esteemed as
-a condiment in China and Japan.</p>
-
-<p>Tabasco pepper sauce originated with Mr. E. McIllhenny,
-of New Iberia, La., in 1868, from a variety
-of capsicum in which the fruit grows erect, and was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span>
-brot by a soldier friend of Mr. McIllhenny from Tabasco
-in Mexico after the close of the Mexican war.</p>
-
-<p>Tabasco catsup originated with Mr. George Bayle
-of St. Louis, Mo. The base of it is said to be equal
-proportions of powdered capsicum and essence of tomatoes.</p>
-
-<p>Ground cayenne pepper soon loses its bright color
-when kept too long or exposed to the light, and becomes
-dingy in appearance, so it is not always wise
-to judge by looks alone, as red ocher, turmeric, mustard,
-rice, sawdust, salt, brick dust, etc., have been
-found in cayenne pepper.</p>
-
-<p>The large fruits or pods are commercially known
-as capsicums, and the smaller ones as chilies. The
-term pepper is a misnomer as applied to this spice.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 id="CINNAMON_AND_CASSIA" class="sans">CINNAMON AND CASSIA.<br />
-
-<span class="subhead sep">The Sweet Wood of Ceylon and the Aromatic Bark
-of the Present Day Often Confused With Cassia—Valuable
-Trade History.</span>
-</h2>
-</div>
-
-<h3 class="sep">Cinnamon</h3>
-
-<p>As in the case of sago and tapioca, a good deal of
-misconception prevails in regard to cinnamon and
-cassia, and as with sago and tapioca, one is often
-sold for the other by the uninformed. The word
-“cassia,” botanically speaking, has nothing whatever
-to do with the aromatic bark which we call
-by that name, but refers to a genus of plants of the
-bean family, from which are derived the dried senna
-leaves, an infusion of which our mothers induced us
-to take by the bribe of a piece of candy, altho we
-had “tummy ache” for a brief space afterwards. The
-word “cinnamon” is derived from two Malayan words
-“cassia” from the Greek word “kasian,” which occurs
-in Psalms XLV-8, and elsewhere in the Bible, where
-it is supposed to refer to the aromatic bark of the
-present day, was afterwards tacked on. That cassia
-(the bark) was known in biblical times is well authenticated.
-It is mentioned in a Chinese herbal
-published in 1700 B. C. under the name kwei.</p>
-
-<p>The earliest mention of cinnamon is in a list of
-offerings by Seleneneus Callinieus, king of Syria, and
-his brother, Antiochus Hierax, to the temple of Apollo
-at Miletus, 243 B. C. Among the gifts mentioned
-are: “2 lbs. of cassia and a like quantity of cinnamon.”
-From this it appears there was then a recognized<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span>
-distinction between the two barks. We do
-know that the cassia was obtained from China, but
-the source of the cinnamon is unknown, unless it
-was obtained thru the Chinese from Ceylon, the inhabitants
-of those countries being in frequent intercourse
-in ancient times, for the earliest mention we
-have of cinnamon as a production of Ceylon is by
-Kazwini, an Arab writer of about 1275 A. D.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="max-width: 23.0625em;">
-<img src="images/i_p014.png" width="369" height="568" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>That cinnamon and cassia were extremely analogus<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span>
-is proved by the remark of the Greek physician
-Galen (130–200 A. D.): “The finest cassia differs
-so little from the lowest quality of cinnamon, that
-the first may be substituted for the second, provided
-a double quantity of it were used.” With this
-brief historical sketch we will now endeavor to
-point out the differences between the two barks.</p>
-
-<p>In the first place the word “cinnamon” refers solely
-to the cinnamon zeylanicium plant of Ceylon,
-where it is found growing wild, and was first brot
-under cultivation by De Koke in 1770. Here again,
-as with cloves, mace, etc., the Dutch tried to monopolize
-the trade. The giving away of a plant was
-punishable by flogging and the destruction of a plant
-involved the penalty of death. The tree grows to
-the height of 20 or 30 ft., having a trunk 12 to 18
-inches in diameter; the leaves are of a thick leathery
-texture, 4 to 6 inches long, very smooth and
-shining on the upper surface, glaucous with prominent
-netted veins on the under side, and are traversed
-by 3 or 5 ribs. The flowers are greenish-white
-and appear in clusters of threes. The fruit
-is an oval berry, not unlike an acorn in shape and
-color. The tree flowers in January and the fruit
-ripens in August. When the branches are peeled
-the finest sticks are said to be derived from the liber
-of the middle-sized branches, an inferior sort from
-the younger shoots, and that which is procured from
-the thickest branches is considered of little worth.
-The peeling commences in May and lasts until November.
-The shoots or branches, usually about ½-inch
-to ¾-inch in diameter and from 3 to 5 ft. long,
-are cut off with a curved pruning knife, tied up in
-bundles and carried to the peeling sheds. The bark<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span>
-is removed with a small, round-pointed knife, with a
-small projecting rib or cutter placed at right angles
-to the edge of the knife. With this knife the bark
-is split lengthwise of the stock. It is then carefully
-loosened from the wood for a short distance on
-either side of the slit. A similar incision is made on
-the opposite side and the bark is finally removed.
-The bark is then put in piles, covered with scrapings
-and matting and left for about two days, during
-which time a sort of fermentation takes place,
-which greatly facilitates the separation of the outer
-part of the bark from the cuticle and epidermis,
-which is carefully done by scraping with a small,
-curved knife, having a slightly serrated edge. This
-process is called piping. The piper sorts the bark
-as he scrapes it. He selects a slip suitable for the
-outer layer, about 3 ft. long, and packs within it 6
-or 8 other pieces, all about the thickness of vellum
-paper—a mark which always distinguishes Ceylon
-cinnamon from cassia. They are then rolled up together
-and exposed to the sun to dry. It now resembles
-a tight roll of paper, the best quality being
-firm and compact, of a golden yellow color, smooth
-on both outer and inner surfaces. The cheaper
-grades are not so carefully made, having many short
-pieces in the pipes or quills and not so much attention
-is paid to obtain uniform size and color. At
-Colombo it is sorted into three kinds by government
-inspectors. The two finest kinds are exported, the
-third with the broken pieces being reserved for obtaining
-oil of cinnamon. It is formed in bales about
-90 lbs. each and wrapped in double cloths made of
-hemp, and not, as stated by some, of the cocoa tree.</p>
-
-<p>Guava bark, soaked in the water left after the distillation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span>
-of cinnamon oil and rubbed over with cinnamon
-oil, is sometimes placed inside good cinnamon
-quills and then it takes a man of Solomon’s wisdom
-to detect the fraud.</p>
-
-<h3>Cassia</h3>
-
-<p>Cassia, under the name of Kwei, is mentioned in
-the earliest Chinese herbal—that of the Emperor
-Shena-ming, who reigned about 2700 B. C.; in the
-ancient Chinese classics, and in Rh-ya an herbal
-dating from 1200 B. C. In the Hai-yao-pen-ts’ao,
-written in the eighth century, mention is made of
-Tien-chu Kwei. Tien-chu is the ancient name for
-India, perhaps the allusion may be to the cassia bark
-of Malabar. In connection with these extremely
-early references to the spice, it may be stated that
-a bark supposed to be cassia is mentioned as imported
-into Egypt together with gold, ivory, frankincense,
-precious woods and apes, in the 17th century
-B. C. The accounts given by Dioscondes, Ptolemy
-and the author of the Periphes of the Erythrean
-Sea, that cinnamon and cassia were obtained from
-Arabia and eastern Africa; and we further know
-that the importers were Phoenicians who traded by
-Egypt and the Red Sea with Arabia, and it was imported
-hither from southern China.</p>
-
-<p>Cassia, according to Marshall and others, is the
-bark of the old branches and trunks of the cinnamon
-zeylanicium, while others assert that it is the bark
-of an entirely different species, namely, cinnamon
-cassia, a native of China, but also grown in Java.
-This view is the more probable, as no cassia is exported
-from Ceylon, it almost all coming from Canton.
-Regents have also very different effects on the
-infusion and oil of these two barks, which conclusively<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span>
-shows that they are obtained from different
-species. Cassia comes in bales, 2 to 4 lbs., bound by
-strips from the bark of some other tree. The pipes
-or quills are thicker and rolled once or twice, and
-never contain thinner pieces within; the diameter
-of the bark is much thicker, harder, and not as carefully
-scraped. The color is a deeper browinsh-fawn
-color. The taste is more acridly aromatic, pungent
-sweet, at the same time more powerfully astringent
-yet muclignious. Cassia is often substituted for
-cinnamon. It is adulterated with cassia lignea, the
-bark of a degenerate variety of cinnamon zeylanicium
-growing in Malabar, Penang and Silhet.</p>
-
-<p>Other varieties of cassia are: Saigon cassia, the
-bark of an unknown species which appeared in commerce
-about 1875. The outer bark is not removed,
-has a gray or grayish-brown color, is covered externally
-with whitish blotches, warts or wrinkles.</p>
-
-<p>C. Aromaticum is believed to be the cinnamon of
-China and Cochin China, growing in the provinces
-of Kwantung and Kwangsi. The leaves are very
-much larger than the Ceylon tree, hang down from
-the stalks and have never more than three ribs.
-This is the species that yields the cassia buds.</p>
-
-<p>C. Tamala is a native of India, wild in Derwanee
-and Gongachora. It is cultivated in the gardens of
-Rungpoor. The dried leaves have an aromatic taste.</p>
-
-<p>C. Loureirii grows in the lofty mountains of Cochin
-China, to the west towards Laos, Japan. The
-flowers of cassia are produced by this species. The
-old and young branches are worthless, but the middle-sized
-shoots produce a bark that is superior to
-that of Ceylon. None of it is exported.</p>
-
-<p>C. Culilawan is a native of Amboyna. The bark<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span>
-when dry is aromatic like cloves, but less pungent
-and sweeter. It is used by the natives of Amboyna
-as an internal medicine and as a stimulating linament.</p>
-
-<p>C. Rubrium grows in Cochin China, and contains
-an essential oil, smelling of cloves, but not so agreeable.</p>
-
-<p>C. Sintoc is a tree about 80 ft. high, growing in
-the Neilgherry mountains, India, and the higher
-mountains of Java. The bark is of the same quality
-as the Amboyna cassia, but not so agreeable. It is
-more bitter and powdery when chewed.</p>
-
-<p>C. Xanthaneuron is a native of the Papuan islands
-and the Moluccas. The bark when fresh is very fragrant,
-but it soon loses its quality.</p>
-
-<p>C. Nitidum is a native of India. It is a shrub or
-small tree.</p>
-
-<p>C. Javanicum grows in Java and Borneo. It is a
-tree of about 20 to 30 ft. high. The dried bark is
-of a deep cinnamon brown color; more bitter than
-the Ceylon cinnamon, and the leaves when rubbed
-have a sharp aromatic odor.</p>
-
-<p>Cinnamon of the Ceylon type is cultivated in Guyana,
-the Isle of St. Vincent, Cape de Verde, Brazil,
-the Isle of France, Pondicheny, Guadaloupe and elsewhere.
-There is, however, no probability that the
-tree will succeed as an article of commerce that has
-not the hot, damp insular climate and bright light
-of Ceylon.</p>
-
-<p>The barks of all these different species, including
-that of Ceylon, are classed as “cinnamon” in the
-pharmacopias of Austria, Germany, Hungary, Russia,
-the United States, France, Spain, Denmark and
-Switzerland, while in the United Kingdom cinnamon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span>
-must be the bark of the Ceylon plant C. zeylanicium;
-the others being classed as cassia.</p>
-
-<h3>Oil of Cinnamon</h3>
-
-<p>Oil of cinnamon is made from the pieces and chips
-of the bark, it is of a red-yellowish color. Eighty
-pounds of bark yields about 8 ozs. of oil. It is very
-stimulating. It is often adulterated with oil of cassia,
-oil of cassia buds, oil of cherry laurel, and oil of
-bitter almonds—the latter is a very dangerous mixture.</p>
-
-<p>Cinnamon leaves yield an oil resembling oil of
-cloves, with which it is often mixed.</p>
-
-<p>The ripe berries of the cinnamon tree yield a
-volatile oil, similar to oil of juniper, and from the
-root is obtained camphor.</p>
-
-<p>Cassia oil is obtained from the leaves, buds, or
-bark. It is of a golden-yellow color, but turns brown
-with age. It is considered good for influenza.</p>
-
-<p>Cassia buds resemble nails with heads of different
-size and shape, according to the period of growth
-when collected.</p>
-
-<p>There is also a kind of wild cinnamon, or cassia,
-which grows in Cuba, but its taste resembles more
-that of cloves than of cinnamon.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 id="CLOVES" class="sans">CLOVES<br />
-
-<span class="subhead sep">Interesting History With Illustration Showing Flower,
-Bud and Fruit—Where Grown and Commercial
-Uses</span>
-</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="sep"></div>
-
-<p>Cloves are dried, unopened calyces or flower buds
-of the clove tree, Caryophyllus aromaticus, a kind of
-myrtle, a native of the Molucca islands. In commerce
-they are chiefly distinguished by their place of growth
-and rank in the following order: Penang, Bencoolen,
-Amboyna, and Zanzibar. In addition to these there
-enter into commerce as secondary products, clove
-stalks and mother cloves, or the dried ripened fruit.
-The bulk of these secondary products are shipped
-from Zanzibar.</p>
-
-<p>The clove tree is an evergreen, 15 to 30 ft. high.
-It has a thin smooth bark and adheres closely to the
-wood, which is a gray color and of little use. The
-leaves are 3 to 5 in. long. The upper side and foot-stalk
-is red, shading to a dark color, while the under
-surface is green. The flowers grow in small bunches
-at the extremities of the boughs, very like the flower-buds
-of the lilac tree, and all are of a delicate purplish
-color. The calyx is long and forms the seed
-sack. As the blossoms fade the calyx changes color
-from yellow to red. If allowed to remain on the tree
-after this the calyx swells like that of the rose. In
-this state it loses its pungent properties and is called
-mother clove, and is practically of no value as a
-choice spice. The cultivated trees are kept pruned
-to about 8 or 10 ft. in height.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span></p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="max-width: 21.25em;">
-<img src="images/i_p022.png" width="340" height="465" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>The harvesting of the flower-buds commences immediately
-after they assume a bright red color. Such
-blossoms as can be reached are plucked by hand,
-while those that grow on the upper branches are
-beaten down with bamboo poles and caught in
-clothes spread beneath the trees. They are then
-dried in the shade or by hanging on hurdles over
-slow wood fires—they lose about half their weight
-in the drying process. They are usually finished off
-in the sun, which gives them a darker color. The
-quicker they are dried the less the loss of aroma.
-Good cloves have a strong aromatic smell, a hot,
-spicy taste and a light brown or tan color. The season<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span>
-for harvesting is from September to March. A
-10-year-old tree yields about 20 lbs. of cloves a year,
-the yield increasing up to 100 lbs. for a 20-year old
-tree.</p>
-
-<p>Penang cloves are from the Straits Settlements.
-They are large, plump and of a bright color. Amboyna
-cloves are not so large as the Penang and are
-of a dark brown color. Zanzibar cloves are smaller
-than the Amboyna, a bright reddish color and generally
-very dry. Pemba cloves are small and dark
-in color and mostly arrive in a damp condition, and
-therefore lose weight if kept long.</p>
-
-<p>Cloves have sometimes a portion of their oil extracted,
-which gives them a pale, thin, shriveled appearance,
-altho they may be freshened up by rubbing
-with a little oil or passed off by mixing with good
-cloves. Cloves that have been tampered with have
-a good proportion of their heads or knobs off; altho
-another cause for headless cloves is that they may
-have been gathered when too ripe.</p>
-
-<p>Pure oil of cloves is almost colorless, with a faint
-yellow tinge and the strong smell and burning taste
-of cloves. When old it turns to a reddish brown
-color. It has a greater specific gravity than water,
-in which it will sink.</p>
-
-<p>Clove stalks and mother cloves are used in the
-manufacture of ground cloves and mixed spices. In
-Brazil the flower-buds of the tree whose bark furnishes
-cloves cassia are often used as substitutes for
-true cloves. The clove tree attracts so much moisture
-that herbage will not grow beneath its branches
-and the clove of commerce has such an affinity to
-water that if placed near a vessel of water they will
-absorb enuf of the moisture in a few hours to appreciably<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span>
-increase their weight. It is said that dealers
-often take advantage of this to increase the
-weight of their goods and thus enhance their profits.</p>
-
-<p><b>A Little Clove History</b>—This spice was well known
-to the ancients and is mentioned by several Chinese
-authors as in use under the Han dynasty, B. C. 266 to
-220, during which period it was customary for the
-officers of the court to hold the spice in their mouth
-before addressing the sovereign, in order that their
-breath might have an agreeable odor. At this period
-the clove was called fowl’s tongue spice. In 1265 A. D.
-the price was 12s per lb. In 1609 a ship of the
-East India Co., called the Consent, brot 112,000 lbs.
-to England which was sold at 5s 6d per lb. As was
-the case with nutmegs, the Dutch attempted to control
-the business in cloves. With this object in view,
-they caused all the clove trees to be destroyed except
-those of the island of Amboyna. The natives of
-the island were compelled to rear a certain number
-of plants each year and also to protect the bearing
-trees. The French, however, found a number of clove
-trees growing wild in the smaller island, and Poivre,
-French governor of Mauritius, who obtained the plant
-from the island of Guebi, introduced the clove
-tree into that colony in 1770. About 1800 an Arab
-named Harameli-ben-Selah took some seeds and
-plants from Boubon to Zanzibar and commenced the
-cultivation of cloves in that country. The word clove
-is derived from the Latin clavus nail, Spanish clavo
-and French clou, owing its nail-like appearance.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 id="GINGER" class="sans">GINGER<br />
-
-<span class="subhead sep">Used as a Spice by the Early Greeks and Romans—Plant
-a Native of Asia and Grew Wild in
-Mexico and Africa</span>
-</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="sep"></div>
-
-<p>As a spice, ginger was used among the early Greeks
-and Romans, who appear to have received it by way
-of the Red sea, inasmuch as they considered it to be
-a production of southern Arabia. In the list of imports
-from the Red sea into Alexandra which, in the
-2nd century of our era, were then liable to the Roman
-fiscal duty, ginger occurs among other Indian spices.
-It appears in the tariff of duties levied at Acre in
-Palestine, about 1173, in that of Barcelona in 1221,
-Marseilles in 1228 and Paris 1296. It was known in
-England before the Norman conquest, being frequently
-named in the Anglo-Saxon leech-books of the 11th
-century as well as in the Welsh “Physicians of Myddvai.”
-During the 13th and 14th centuries, it was,
-next to pepper, the commonest of spices, costing on
-an average 1s 7d per lb., or about the price of a sheep.
-Three kinds of ginger were known to Italian merchants
-about the 14th century: (1) Belledi of Baladi,
-an Arabic name which applied to ginger would
-signify country, wild, and denotes common ginger;
-(2) Columbonio, which refers to Columbuno, Kolam
-or Quilon, a port in Travanore, frequently referred
-to in the middle ages; (3) Micchino, which denotes
-brot from or by way of Mecca. Marco Polo saw it in
-India and China, 1230–1239. John of Montecorvino, a
-missionary friar, who visited India in 1290, gives a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span>
-description of the plant and refers to the root being
-dug up and transplanted. Nicolo de Conti, a Venetian
-merchant, early in the 15th century describes
-the plant and a collection of roots he saw in India.
-The Venetians received it by way of Egypt, and
-superior kinds from India overland by the Black
-sea. Ginger was introduced into America by Francisco
-de Mondoca, who took it from the East Indies
-to New Spain. It was shipped for commercial purposes
-from the islands of St. Domingo in 1585, and
-from Barbadoes in 1654.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="max-width: 15.875em;">
-<img src="images/i_p026.png" width="254" height="468" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>Ginger is the dried, knotty fibrous rhizomes or
-tubers—“races” or “hands” as they are called from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span>
-their irregular, palmate form—of the ginger plant
-(zinziber officinale) the real roots being the thin
-fibers that branch off from the rhizomes.</p>
-
-<p>The plant is a native of Asia, but also found growing
-wild in Mexico and East Africa. It is a reed-like
-biennial plant, not unlike the iris or flag in appearance.
-The leaves are long, similar to those of maize,
-growing alternate on a stem 3 to 4 ft. high. The
-flowers are borne on a separate stem, 6 to 12 in. high;
-they are yellow or blue, according to the quality of
-the soil in which they have been grown. The plant
-which produces the yellow flower and best ginger is
-grown on rich, deep, virgin soil; the other comes
-from poorer ground. Ginger is propagated by pieces
-of the rhizome being planted in March. The flowers
-appear about September, after they have withered
-and seeded. The roots are dug up about January.
-When left too long in the ground, the rhizomes become
-very fibrous, if taken up too soon they are
-tender and succulent, so much so that they cannot be
-made sufficiently dry to render them fit for export
-in the usual commercial form. They are therefore
-preserved in sugar. The rhizomes, besides being
-classed as “yellow” or “blue,” are also divided into
-“plant,” (being the rhizomes from plants of the same
-season’s growth), and “ratoon” which are rhizomes
-left in the ground from the previous harvest.</p>
-
-<p>Ginger is known in commerce in two distinct forms,
-termed respectively as coated or uncoated ginger,—as
-having or wanting the epidermis. For the coated
-ginger, the races of hands, after being dug up, are
-thoroly washed to free them from all the adhering
-earth. They are then laid on a canvas or cement
-floor, outdoors, to dry by the heat of the sun. At<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span>
-night they are taken indoors. It takes from 6 to 8
-days to thoroly dry them. They are then ready for
-shipment. In damp weather they are artificially
-dried by an evaporator. In this form ginger presents
-a brown, more or less wrinkled or straited, surface,
-and when broken up shows a dark brownish fracture,
-hard, and sometimes horney and resinous. For the
-uncoated ginger the fresh-dug rhizomes, after being
-washed, are soaked in water for some time and then
-peeled or scraped—a most delicate operation requiring
-the hand of an expert. Owing to the peculiar
-formation of the races, no machine has yet been invented
-that will do the work satisfactorily. The
-outer rind or skin is deftly taken off by means of a
-common knife, so as not to injure the inner root, as
-a loss of the pungent volatile oil, to which ginger
-owes its value, would follow and thus impair its commercial
-worth. After being peeled the races are
-soaked in water over night. In the morning they are
-again washed, cleaned and weighed, and then dried
-in the same manner as coated ginger.</p>
-
-<p>It requires 3 lbs. of green root to make 1 lb. of dry
-root. The purer the water the whiter the ginger.
-Sometimes lime juice is added to the wash water,
-which gives a whiter root, but as lime juice contains
-sugar, it prevents thoro drying and mildew follows.
-Ginger is often subjected to a system of bleaching,
-or by immersion for a short time in a solution of
-chlorinated lime. The white-washed appearance
-which much of the ginger has is due to the fact of
-its being washed in whiting and water or even coated
-with sulphate of lime. Uncoated ginger varies from
-single joints an inch or less to flattish, irregularly
-branched pieces of several joints, the races of hands,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span>
-and from 3 to 4 in. long. Each race has a depression
-on the summit showing the former attachment of a
-leafy stem. The color, when not white-washed, is a
-pale buff. It is somewhat rough, breaking with a
-short, mealy fracture, and presenting on the surface
-of the broken parts numerous short or bristly fibers.</p>
-
-<p>The best ginger grown comes from Jamaica. It is
-of a superior strength, fine flavor and a light, handsome
-color. A peculiar trade custom prevails in
-Jamaica with regard to ginger, which is not sold by
-weight or measure but by the “heap,” and the size of
-the heap governs the price and is an indication, to
-a certain extent, of the quality and quantity of the
-crop. If the heap is small, the price is high; if the
-heap is large, then the price is lower. If the races
-or hands, are finely shaped and large, there are fewer
-in the heap; if small, dark and mealy, the heap is
-made larger.</p>
-
-<p>The next best quality is Borneo or Cochin ginger,
-which closely resembles in appearance the Jamaica.
-It is not, however, so carefully prepared.</p>
-
-<p>African ginger, also termed Bombay or Calcutta,
-from the ports of shipment, is darker in color, has a
-coarser appearance, a harsher flavor and inferior
-aroma to either of the above, but contains a greater
-amount of oleoresin than they do and is very pungent.
-It is largely used for making ginger beer, essences,
-extracts, etc.</p>
-
-<p>Leaf ginger is ginger that has been sliced into thin
-flakes.</p>
-
-<p>Green ginger root, is that which has not undergone
-any process of cleaning beyond freeing it from the
-earth adhering. Imported in casks and used by wine
-makers, preservers, etc.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span>
-Spent-ginger is whole ginger that has once been
-used, then fixed up to resemble good ginger and sold
-whole or ground. It does not possess a single one of
-the valuable properties of genuine ginger.</p>
-
-<p>China ginger is not imported in a dried state, the
-rhizomes being too tender and succulent to thoroly
-dry for export. It is preserved or candied. For preserving,
-the rhizomes are first scalded, then washed
-in cold water and peeled, then boiled in pans for 2 or
-3 hours; then transferred to copper pans and boiled
-for 2 hours in a mixture of sugar and water—just
-sufficient water to cover the roots, 5 lbs. of sugar to
-10 lbs. of ginger, the roots having been pierced with
-a sharp instrument to enable the sugar to soak into
-them. After boiling the ginger is put into large
-jars and stands for several days, when it is again
-boiled in sugar and water in the same quantities.
-After it has become cold it is packed in jars or tins
-for export. To crystallize, the same process is gone
-thru, only in the final boiling it is boiled until the
-sugar become dry.</p>
-
-<p>The Chinese season for preserving ginger is from
-July to October. It is nearly all prepared in Canton
-and Hongkong. A kind known as Ng Mai Keunig is
-preserved in Swaton, from Alpina galanga, but it is
-not like the Canton or Hankou ginger and is only
-made for native consumption, to be used medicinally
-or for cooking. Some of it goes to the Straits Settlement,
-but none to Hongkong. Jamaica preserved ginger
-is mostly put up in glass bottles. The uses of
-ginger are too well known to need repeating.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 id="MUSTARD" class="sans">MUSTARD<br />
-
-<span class="subhead sep">Well Known to the Ancients, but More in a Medicinal
-Way—How Cultivated and Prepared for
-Commercial Uses</span>
-</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="sep"></div>
-
-<p>Mustard was well known to the ancients, but more
-in a medicinal way than dietetic. From an edict of
-Diocletian, 30 A. D., in which it is mentioned along
-with alimentary substances, we must suppose it was
-then regarded as a condiment, at least in the eastern
-parts of the Roman empire. In Europe, during the middle
-ages, mustard was a valued accompaniment to
-food, especially with the salted meats which constituted
-a large portion of the diet of our ancestors during
-the winter. In the Welsh “Meddygon Myddrai” of
-the 13th century, a paragraph is devoted to the “Virtues
-of Mustard.” In household accounts of the 13th
-and 14th centuries, mustard is of constant occurrence;
-it was then cultivated in England, but not extensively.
-The price of the seed between 1285 and 1340 varied
-from 1s 3d to 6s 8d per quarter (21 lbs.), but between
-1347 and 1376 it was as high as 15s and 16s. In the
-accounts of the Abbey of St. Germain des Pres in
-Paris, 800 A. D., mustard is specially mentioned as a
-regular part of the revenue of the convent lands.</p>
-
-<p>The essential oil of mustard was first noticed in
-1660 by Nicolas le Febre and more distinctly in 1732
-by Boerharroe.</p>
-
-<p>The word mustard comes from the Italian, murtard,
-which is derived from the Latin must-um, unfermented
-grape juice, with which the Italians formerly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span>
-mixed ground mustard. The Athenians called
-it napy; while the Hellenistic name was sinapi, or
-sinapy, whence the Latin sinapi, or sinapis, from
-which is derived the German word senf. Hippocrates
-used mustard in medicine under the name of Vanuit.
-The dark seed, which comes from Trieste, Austria, is
-called Trieste mustard. Spoken of by Theophnastus,
-Galin and others. What is called French mustard, German
-mustard, etc., is made of the dressings mixed
-with vinegar, garlic and other spices and flavoring
-musterial. The form in which table mustard is now
-sold dates from 1720, about which time Mrs. Clements,
-of Durham, Eng., hit on the idea of grinding the seed
-in a mill and sifting the flour from the husk. This
-bright yellow farina rapidly attained wide popularity.
-The fame of “Durham Mustard” was spread far and
-wide, Mrs. Clements traveling to London and principal
-cities twice a year taking orders.</p>
-
-<p>There are two species of mustard plants from
-which ground mustard is made. The sinapes alba,
-white or yellow mustard, and sinapes nigra, brown
-or black mustard, is the mustard plant spoken of in
-Luke XIII, 19. They are annual herbs, three to 6 ft.
-high, with lyrate leaves, yellow flowers, and slender
-pods, from one to four inches long, containing a single
-row of roundish seeds.</p>
-
-<p>One of the peculiarities incident to the cultivation
-of mustard is the fact that two crops of mustard cannot
-be raised on the same ground in succession. Another
-variety is sinapes arvenus, or wild mustard,
-called charlock and used for adulterating; the Sarepta,
-the black seed of the sinapes juncea, from the
-East Indies, is used for the same purpose. Sarepta<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span>
-is called from a city of that name in Russia, in the
-government of Saratov.</p>
-
-<p>The brown or black variety is sown in January and
-the yellow or white in March, the seed being sown
-broadcast and harvested in August. A reaper is used,
-cutting the stalks and throwing them in bunches,
-where they are left to cure until October. They are
-now thoroly dry and are taken to a convenient place,
-spread out upon sheets of canvas and rolled with a
-heavy roller. The stalks and empty pods are then
-raked off, and the chaff and seeds remaining are run
-thru a fanning machine, after which process they are
-ready to sack and market.</p>
-
-<p>There are two processes in use in making ground
-mustard. In the first, the seeds, white or black, or
-mixed, are ground to powder and then put thru an
-elaborate course of siftings. The product left after
-the first sifting is called “dressings” and that which
-passes thru is pure mustard flour. This mustard flour
-is again run thru a finer sieve, and so on until the
-required fineness is obtained. From the dressings
-left after the different sievings, the essential oil of
-mustard is expressed.</p>
-
-<p>In the other method, the oil is first extracted from
-the seeds by hydraulic pressure, which leaves a sort
-of cake. This cake is then broken up and pounded in
-a mortar. It is then sifted, that going thru the sieve
-being a kind of bolted mustard flour. The remaining
-bran is then mixed with an equal quantity of wheat
-flour, one per cent of cayenne and sufficient turmeric
-to give the proper color. This is pounded and treated
-as before, the process being continued until there is
-no bran left. Then all the different siftings are mixed
-together, giving a mixture of about equal proportions<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span>
-of mustard and wheat flour, with the cayenne and
-turmeric added in proper quantities.</p>
-
-<p>The peculiar pungency and odor, to which mustard
-owes much of its value, are due to an essential oil
-developed by the action of water on two chemical
-substances contained in black mustard seed; one
-called sinigrin and the other myrosin. The latter
-substance in the presence of water acts as a sort of
-ferment on the sinigrin, and it is worthy of remark
-that this reaction does not take place in the presence
-of boiling water and, therefore, it is not proper to
-use very hot water in the preparation of mustard, cold
-water only should be used. White mustard seed contains
-in the place of sinigrin a peculiar acrid substance
-called sinalbin and also a trace of myrosin,
-therefore, it possesses very little pungency and it
-produces a larger percentage of flour than the black.
-The proper blending of these two seeds is necessary
-to the production of the best mustard, as the white
-has the peculiar ferment within it which develops
-to the highest degree the flavor of the black.</p>
-
-<p>The reason for mixing wheat flour, rice flour or
-other farina with pure mustard flour is, that owing
-to the large amount of oil contained in the latter it
-will not keep long, but turns rancid, ferments and
-cakes; the added farinas by absorbing a portion of
-the oil retards fermentation, decomposition and rancidity.
-They should not be looked upon as adulterants,
-unless added in too great quantities, and the
-price of the mustard should be in proportion to the
-added absorbents.</p>
-
-<p>A mean form of adulteration is to mix gypsum and
-chrome yellow with the ground mustard seed.</p>
-
-<p>If upon the addition of a small quantity of iodine<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span>
-to ground mustard it turns blue, it shows that starch
-is present. The ammonia test will show the presence
-of turmeric. Every manufacturer has his own particular
-formula, and consequently there are many
-different qualities, both in the pure mustard and the
-compounds. One is composed of 37 per cent brown
-and 50 per cent white mustard flour, 10 per cent of
-rice flour, 3 per cent of black pepper, a little Chili
-pepper and ginger.</p>
-
-<p>Pure mustard oil, as pressed from the seed, is not
-pungent and will not blister unless mixed with water.</p>
-
-<p>The English mustard seed is the best in the world.
-Of this class 4,995,800 lbs. of seed and 1,307,202 lbs.
-of flour were imported during the year 1908. Mustard
-seed and flour from Italy is known as Trieste. In the
-Lompoe valley, California, some 2,500 acres are under
-mustard cultivation, and a small quantity is also
-grown in Kentucky.</p>
-
-<p>The uses of mustard are too well known to need
-recapitulation. D. S. F. means double superfine.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 id="NUTMEG_AND_MACE" class="sans">NUTMEG AND MACE<br />
-
-<span class="subhead sep">Where the Nutmeg Tree Grows—Yield of Nuts and
-Mace and How Prepared for the Market—Uses
-in Commerce</span>
-</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="sep"></div>
-
-<p>The nutmeg tree, known to botanists as Myristica
-frangrans (sweet smelling) is a native of the Malay
-archipelago. The tree, which in the Banda isles
-grows to the height of 50 to 60 ft., and in the Straits
-to 30 to 40 ft., resembles the pear tree in the shape
-of its leaves and fruit. Its flowers are like those of
-the lily of the valley in form and size, but are pale
-yellow and exceedingly fragrant. There are male and
-female flowers, the nutmegs being obtained from the
-latter. It is only when the tree is about 6 or 8 years
-old that the female tree can be distinguished from
-the male, and of the latter only a few are allowed
-to remain for fertilizing purposes, the rest being cut
-down. The nutmeg tree continues to yield from 70
-to 80 years after reaching maturity (8 years).
-Each tree on an average will produce 10 lbs. of nutmegs
-and 1½ lbs. of mace annually. The fruit is
-yellowish, edible drupe, about the size of a peach;
-it splits into halves when at maturity—about 9
-months from the time of blossoming—exposing a
-single seed with a thin, hard shell, surrounded by a
-fibrous substance of a crimson color, which, when
-dried and shelled becomes the nutmeg. The young
-drupes, when young and tender, are often preserved
-like jam and are considered the most aromatic and
-delicious of conserves. Altho the nutmeg tree has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span>
-ripe fruit upon it at all seasons, there are three
-principal periods of harvesting, viz: July, when the
-fruit is most abundant, though it yields thin mace;
-November, when the mace is thicker, though the nutmegs
-are smaller, and March, when both mace and
-nutmegs reach their greatest perfection—but as this
-season is dry the production is not great.</p>
-
-<div class="figleft" style="max-width: 5.4375em;">
-<img src="images/i_p037.png" width="87" height="488" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>The usual method of gathering in the Straits is to
-collect the ripe nuts that have fallen on the ground.
-In the Banda islands, the fruits are gathered in
-small, neatly-made, oval bamboo baskets—holding
-about 3 fruit—at the end of a long bamboo stick,
-which prevents bruising, the baskets being
-opened for about half their length on
-one side, and furnished with two small
-prongs projecting from the top, by which
-the fruit stalk is broken, the fruit falling
-into the basket. After the pulp—which
-is about ½-in. thick, whitish in color, and
-tough like candied peel—has been removed
-the mace is stripped off by hand.
-The shell of the fruit is very hard and
-cannot be broken without injury to the
-kernel. To overcome this they are put
-into receptacles with fine mesh bottoms,
-and dried over a slow fire—being turned
-from time to time—until the kernel
-rattles freely in the shell, a process
-which takes about 6 or 8 weeks. This
-also kills any weevil which may be at
-work in them. They are then carefully
-cracked by placing them on a sort of
-drumhead made of raw-hide and striking
-them with a board or mallet, when the
-shells fly off into pieces. Great caution is needed in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span>
-shelling, for if too hard a blow be struck it makes a
-black spot on the nutmeg, which affects its
-value considerably. After being steeped in salt
-water several times and again dried they are sorted
-according to size and soundness—130 to 140 to the
-pound are the lowest priced, 75 to 80 the highest,
-and larger nuts are sold at special prices. The
-sorting is done by hand, and nothing but sound, perfect
-nuts are supposed to be shipped. The broken
-and wormy ones are used in manufacturing “nutmeg
-butter,” or, as it is commonly but erroneously
-called, “mace oil.” They are now limed. There are
-two methods of liming in vogue—the dry and the
-wet. In the dry process, the nuts have dry lime
-powder rubbed over them, either by hand or shaking
-in barrels. In the wet process, the nuts are
-put into newly-slacked lime and then spread out to
-dry, or they are dipped into a kind of lime-pickle,
-thick as syrup, made of calcined-shells and salt
-water. After being covered with this mixture they
-are dried. The process of liming originated with the
-Dutch, with a view to preventing the germinating
-of the seeds, for which purpose they were formerly
-immersed for three months in milk of lime. Again
-it is claimed that liming preserves the nuts against
-the attacks of maggots and a particular kind or
-beetle by stopping up their breathing and chewing
-apparatus. A preference is still manifested for limed
-nutmegs.</p>
-
-<p>As nutmegs are now seldom shipped by sailing
-vessels, but by steamers, thus saving the long-time
-voyage, there is no reason why they should not come
-unlimed, and then the differences in their natural
-complexions and range of variations would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span>
-become familiar and easily recognized. The
-liming process hides many imperfect or corky nuts;
-nuts which have been riddled with worm holes are
-“stopped” with a paste made of flour, oil and nutmeg
-powder and then mixed with the sound ones.
-Occasionally this paste is moulded into false nutmegs.
-Besides this, nutmegs are frequently robbed
-of part of their essential oil by distillation in
-alcohol—a process called “sweating”—and yet sold as
-entire nuts. A small quantity of boracic acid will
-accomplish the same purpose as lime, and Paris
-white and barytes will serve to mask the identity
-as well as the defects. A good nutmeg should have
-no worm-holes, be full of oil and cut firm like a piece
-of wood, and if a pin is thrust into one the oil
-should ooze out on its being withdrawn.</p>
-
-<p>The Penang nutmegs, which are generally not
-limed, are considered the best, altho some prefer the
-Banda or Batavia, and after these the Singapore.
-There is also a demand for an elliptical-shaped nutmeg
-of rank flavor, first called long nutmegs, but
-now known as Macassars. Another kind of nutmeg
-from New Guinea, and known in Germany as “horse
-nutmeg,” is from the species Myristica Argentea.
-It is of a long and narrow shape. In these the arellus
-or mace furrows are less marked and their odor
-is not so delicate as that of the true nutmeg.</p>
-
-<p>There are many kinds of wild or inferior nutmegs,
-such as: American Jamaica, or calabash nutmeg
-(M. monodora), of the custard-apple family, bearing
-a large pulpy fruit containing aromatic seeds.
-Brazilian nutmeg (cryptocarya moschata) a tree of
-the laurel family, producing nutmegs of an inferior
-quality. The nut is longer than the true species and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span>
-is sold under the name of long nutmeg. California
-nutmeg, a tree of the pine family, called also stinking
-nutmeg or stinking yew, from the disagreeable
-odor of the leaves and wood when bruised and burned,
-and yielding a fruit resembling true nutmegs.
-Clove nutmeg, a Madagascar tree of the laurel family,
-the fruit a pungent kernel resembling the true
-nutmeg and used as a spice. Peruvian nutmeg, a
-large tree of the monimiad family, yielding an aromatic
-fruit. From Borneo a wild, soapy nutmeg and
-mace (M. fatua) are often palmed off as the true
-kinds. There is also the Sante Fe nutmeg (Motoba)
-from Columbia, S. A., and Ackaway nutmeg, a spice
-grown in Guiana, the fruit of Acrodiclidum camard.
-Another species, the M. sebefira, is a common tree
-in the forests of Guiana, north Brazil, and up into
-Panama. It is utilized principally for the oil extracted
-from the nuts, obtained by macerating them
-in water, the oil rising to the surface, and as it
-cools skimmed off. Ackawi nutmegs, used mainly as
-a cure for diarrahoea and colic. All these, while resembling
-somewhat the true nutmegs and sometimes
-foisted on dealers, are of very little real value.</p>
-
-<h3>Mace</h3>
-
-<p>When the mace, a bright-red membraneous substance,
-is removed from the nut it is pressed flat between
-blocks of wood and left to dry until it has
-acquired the right color. The preparation of mace
-for the market requires experience rather than technical
-knowledge. If packed too green it is liable to
-mold, and is subject to attacks from insects, which
-render it valueless in commerce. On the other hand,
-if it becomes too dry it loses its vitality and also
-crumbles into powder when packed. Packers frequently<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span>
-sprinkle the mace with salt water, which
-makes it more pliable and at the same time prevents
-attacks from insects.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="max-width: 22.375em;">
-<img src="images/i_p041.png" width="358" height="559" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>We may here state that nutmegs are divided into
-two varieties: The green, which are long and in
-which the mace only partially covers the nut; is
-darker in color and inferior in flavor and aroma;
-and the Royal, which furnishes the finest and best
-mace, firm, thick, flexible and oily, and entirely envelopes
-the nut.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span>
-As with the nutmeg, mace is sometimes deprived
-of its essential oil, and mixed with wild mace or
-other flavorless matter. Myristica Malabarica,
-known under the name of Bombay mace, used to
-adulterate the true powdered mace, is much larger
-and more cylindrical than the arillus of the true
-nutmeg and has several flaps united at the apex,
-forming a conical structure.</p>
-
-<p><b>Products</b>—Candied nutmeg and mace, nutmeg
-fruits in vinegar or salt, preserved nutmeg fruits,
-and nutmeg or mace essence made from the essential
-oil of nutmegs (not mace) and rectified spirits.
-An essence of mace is also made from 6 oz. mace
-and 2 pints cologne spirit, macerated for a couple of
-weeks, expressed and filtered thru paper. “Nutmeg
-butter”, “butter of nutmeg,” or mace, “concrete oil of
-nutmeg,” or “expressed oil of mace,” as it is variously
-called, is obtained by subjecting the nutmeg or mace
-to a great heat and then squeezing or pressing it in
-heavy presses. This substance is of a green color of
-the consistency of tallow and of a pleasant smell. A
-pound of nutmegs will make 3 ozs. of this oil, but a
-transparent volatile oil is obtained by distillation. It
-evaporates rapidly on exposure to air. When cold it
-becomes somewhat spongy and has a marbled or mottled
-appearance. It becomes hard with age and is exported
-in small bricks, 10 in. by 2½ in., wrapped in
-palm leaves. It is known under several names, as
-nutmeg butter, balsam of nutmeg, concrete oil or the
-mace oil of commerce, and as Banda soap, sometimes
-made from the distilled nutmeg leaves, counterfeited
-by using a foreign fatty substance as palm oil, nut,
-wax and animal fat, boiled with powdered nutmeg
-and flavored with sassafras, which gives it the right
-color and flavor.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span>
-<b>Uses</b>—Nutmegs, besides their use as a spice or
-condiment, are used to relieve sleeplessness when
-opium fails and chloral is not advisable. For diarrhoea,
-half a drachm in milk is an effective cure.
-Butter of mace is used as a liniment and embrocation
-for rheumatism and is also a favorite medicine
-for low stages of fever with Hindoo doctors.</p>
-
-<p>For ground nutmeg, all the faulty, broken, moldy,
-worm-eaten and wild nutmegs are often used.</p>
-
-<p>A little of the history of mace and nutmegs: It
-has generally been believed that neither the nutmeg
-or mace were known to the ancients. Nutmegs and
-mace were imported from India at an early date by
-the Arabians, and thus passed into western countries.
-Masudi, who appears to have visited England in 916–920
-A. D., pointed out that the nutmeg, like cloves,
-arcca nut and sandalwood, was a product of the
-eastern isles of the Indian archipelago. The Arabian
-geographer, Edrisi, who wrote in the middle of the
-12th century, mentions both nutmeg and mace as
-articles of import into Aden. They are also among
-the articles on which duty was levied at Acre in
-1180. About a century later another Arabian author,
-Kozwim, expressly named the Moluccas as the native
-country of the spices under notice. One of the
-earliest references to them in Europe occurs in a
-poem about 1195, by Petrus D’Ebulo, describing the
-entry into Rome of the Emperor Henry VI, previous
-to his coronation in 1191. By the end of the 12th
-century both nutmeg and mace were found in northern
-Europe, even in Denmark, as may be inferred
-from the allusions to them in the writings of Harpestring.
-In England, mace, though well known, was
-a very costly article, its value between 1284 and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span>
-1377 being about 4s 7d per lb., while the average
-price of a sheep during the same period was about
-1s 5d, and of a cow 9s 5d. It was also dear in France,
-for in the will of Jeanne d’Evreux, queen of France,
-in 1372, 6 ozs. of mace were appraised at the rate
-of 8s 3d per lb. In the middle of the 18th century,
-the Dutch, with the object of monopolizing the trade
-in nutmegs, destroyed all the trees in all the Moluccas
-islands, excepting Banda. Nature did not, however,
-sympathize with such meanness. The nutmeg
-pigeon, found in all the Indian islands, did for the
-world what the Dutch had determined should not
-be done—carried the nuts, which are their food, into
-all the surrounding countries, and trees grew
-again and the world had the benefit. In order to
-keep up the price, the surplus stock was burned up
-each year by certain unscrupulous men, as is proposed
-to do at the present day with the surplus
-stock of Brazilian coffee. In 1760, they burned at
-Amsterdam three such immense piles of nutmegs
-and cloves that one writer says: “Each of which
-was as big as a church.”</p>
-
-<p>This account of nutmeg would not be complete
-without “Connecticut Nutmegs.” Some 90 years
-ago Frederick Accum startled England with his book
-“Adulteration of Food and Culinary Poison,” and a
-sort of pure food hysteria passed thru the country
-similar to that caused by the boric acid investigation
-here. But he was eclipsed by a person who
-declared that the makers of wooden shoe-pegs in
-Connecticut were making oats and nutmegs from
-the discarded wood of sawmills. He asserted they
-were not only made, but used as food thruout the
-country. Thus was Connecticut christened the Nutmeg
-State, a name which it has retained even unto
-this day.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 id="PEPPER" class="sans">PEPPER<br />
-
-<span class="subhead sep">White and Black Varieties and Why—How the Plant
-Is Cultivated and Where—History the Grocer
-Should Know to Judge Qualities</span>
-</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="sep"></div>
-
-<p>Pepper is a commodity to be found in every grocery
-store, but how many grocers know that the pepper
-plant—Piper nigrum—which produces the white
-and black pepper of commerce, is a climbing vine-like
-shrub, found growing wild in the forests of Travanscore
-and Malabar coast of India? It is extensively
-cultivated in southwest India, whence it has
-been introduced into Java, Borneo, the Malay peninsula,
-Siam, the Philippines and the West Indies.</p>
-
-<p>Pepper in the time of Alexander the Great was
-considered an extremely choice article and, like gold
-and precious stones, was for many generations found
-only on royal tables. During the Middle Ages, it was
-used as money in payment of tolls, etc., hence the
-custom of “pepper corn” rentals, i. e., a nominal rental
-or perpetual lease; and its high price is said to
-have been one of the causes which led the Portuguese
-to seek a sea passage to India.</p>
-
-<p>The pepper plant grows naturally to 20 ft. in
-height, but is cultivated on trellises or poles, about
-10 or 12 ft. high and is propagated by cuttings or
-suckers. It has a soft stem, the leaves are 4 to 6 in.
-long, tough, glossy, broadly ovate, with 5 to 7 nerves,
-and grow opposite and alternate to a pendulous spike
-5 to 8 in. long, having 20 to 50 white flowers that
-ripen into a one-seeded fruit with a fleshy exterior.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span>
-This fleshy berry, covering a soft stone, is about the
-size of a pea and is at first green, but in ripening
-turns red, which gradually darkens to a deep chocolate
-shade. The vine begins to bear when 3 or 4
-years old and continues bearing for the next 10 or 15
-years. It is in perfection at its eighth year.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter" style="max-width: 21.75em;">
-<img src="images/i_p046.png" width="348" height="547" alt="" />
-</div>
-
-<p>There are two crops a year—July and December—which
-yield 5 to 6 lbs. of dried pepper each for a
-single vine. When the berries are ripe the stalk is
-pinched off by hand and placed in an oblong cane
-basket, slung horizontally behind the plucker by a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span>
-rope around his waist. The rounded ends of the
-basket extend a little on either side, so that the
-basket can be easily filled by either hand of the
-workman. The berries are rubbed off the spikes by
-hand and placed on mats or on the bare ground, to
-dry in the sun, when the weather is fair. In damp
-or cloudy weather they are placed in shallow, open
-baskets before a gentle fire. If the berries are left
-too long on the vines they lose part of their aromatic,
-pungent hot taste, and if gathered too soon they
-become broken and dusty in drying. After drying,
-when they become black and shriveled up, they are
-cleaned and winnowed. Good black pepper is firm
-and not too deeply wrinkled, does not easily crumble
-or break in the hand, it is also heavy and readily
-sinks in water. The inner seed should be hard,
-round and smooth and of a grayish-brown color. The
-outside pericarp should be brownish-black. A yellow
-tinge betrays over-ripeness and consequent loss
-of strength. A reprehensible practice among some
-dealers to hide defective peppers is to artificially
-blacken them and polish with oil. The usual method
-of judging quality is by weight, the grades technically
-being known as heavy, or shot, half-heavy
-and light peppers or corns. A one-litre measure may
-be filled with the pepper and the contents weighed,
-or 100 corns of average size counted and their weight
-ascertained. The variations of peppers of different
-qualities, according to their habitat, are given in the
-following table:</p>
-
-<table summary="varieties of peppers">
- <tr class="b1">
- <td class="tdc l2">Variety—</td>
- <td class="tdc l3">Weight<br />per litre</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Singapore</td>
- <td class="tdl">476 grams</td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span>Tellicherry</td>
- <td class="tdl">548 <span class="in1">”</span></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Lampong</td>
- <td class="tdl">511 <span class="in1">”</span></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Mangalore</td>
- <td class="tdl">574 <span class="in1">”</span></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Malabar</td>
- <td class="tdl">570 <span class="in1">”</span></td></tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">Acheen</td>
- <td class="tdl">407 <span class="in1">”</span></td></tr>
-</table>
-
-<p>It is evident that the moisture present in the corns
-plays an important part in the determination of the
-weight, and it will be necessary to bring the peppers
-up to the stated water content by either drying
-them or placing them in a moist atmosphere, or first
-weigh them dry and weigh again. A slight variation,
-however, from the figures given, is unavoidable.</p>
-
-<p>Singapore Pepper—The principal part of this import
-is the product of Sumatra, Borneo and Siam,
-collected at Singapore. A considerable quantity,
-however, is the products of the Straits Settlements
-themselves. It is of large size and of a fairly uniform
-quality, but as pepper powder it is not much esteemed,
-owing to the manner of drying, giving it a smoky
-flavor that buyers can distinguish Singapore pepper
-from peppers grown elsewhere.</p>
-
-<p>Tellicherry and Alleppey are much alike in appearance,
-both being light brown in color. They too, like
-the Malabar peppers, are sun-dried. Mangalore (India)
-pepper is heavy, large, of a deep black color,
-very clean, and of uniform size. When powdered it
-is of a greenish-black appearance.</p>
-
-<p>The pepper shipped from Penang is called Irang
-pepper and is grown in Sumatra. From the east end
-of the same island comes the Lampong pepper, but
-this lacks uniformity, and is light in color. It is
-also sun-dried. Long pepper is the fruit spike of
-Chivaci Roxburgh, a native of Malabar and Chavica
-officinarum, a native of the India archipelago; they
-are both climbing plants. The first pods, or catkins,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span>
-about 1½ in. long, grow nearly straight, and opposite
-the leaves. They are gathered before they are ripe
-and dried in the sun, when they become brown or
-dark green in color and rough to the touch. They
-lack the pungency of the black variety. The long pepper
-plant dies at the end of 3 years, and after the
-fruit is collected the vine dies down to the ground.
-The fruit grows so close together on the spike that
-when ripe they become one solid mass. There is
-also a variety of long pepper called elephant pepper.
-Long peppers are mostly used for pickles. A medium,
-called Pippua moola, is made from the roots
-and stems; it is very stimulating.</p>
-
-<p>Cubeb peppers are the berries of the vine Cubeb
-officinalis, a product of Java, Borneo and Sumatra,
-but mostly imported by way of Batavia and Canton.
-They are of a gray color, about the size of black
-pepper, somewhat longer, more wrinkled and with a
-short slender stalk. They have a hot, camphor taste.
-Another kind is distinguished by a mace-like odor
-and taste. Cubebs are now mostly used as a medicine.</p>
-
-<p>Ashantee or West African pepper is the dried berry
-of a pepper plant which grows in tropical Africa. It
-is smoother and smaller than the black pepper and
-resembles the Cubeb very closely. In taste it resembles
-the ordinary black pepper. At one time its
-importation was forbidden by the king of Portugal,
-as it threatened to interfere with the commerce of
-India.</p>
-
-<p>Betel pepper is the berry of Chavica betel, a species
-of climbing vine largely cultivated in the East
-Indies, Ceylon, Burma, Siam, etc. It furnishes the
-leaves which are used along with arecanut and other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span>
-ingredients to compose the favorite stimulant chewing
-mixture of the people of India.</p>
-
-<p>White pepper is from the same plant as black
-pepper, with the difference, that to make white pepper
-the pepper corns are not picked until fully ripe;
-they are then soaked in water for 7 or 8 days, or
-heaped up so that the pulp ferments, then they are
-rubbed by hand, or on a coarse cloth, if the quantity
-be small, or trampled under foot if the quantity be
-large; this operation deprives them of the pulpy
-skin or husk, and the greenish-white seeds which remain
-are the white peppers of commerce; then they
-are re-dried, either in the sun or by artificial heat.
-White pepper is bleached whiter by a chemical process.
-If the berries be left on the vines until over-ripe
-they lose their pulpy husk by natural decay and
-thus become actually white pepper, altho in reality
-they are the kernels of black pepper.</p>
-
-<p>Singapore white are berries cultivated in the
-neighboring islands and the husks are removed at
-Singapore by hand and friction before the berries
-are fully dried. Penang white is really grown at
-Sumatra, but imported into Penang in a dried state.
-There the berries are soaked in lime and water for
-several weeks, until the pulp is soft, when it is rubbed
-off by hand and washing; the berries are then
-re-dried.</p>
-
-<p>Siam white are berries prepared in the same manner
-as Singapore white, from berries grown in Siam.</p>
-
-<p>The dried black peppers, as imported, are also decorticated
-or deprived of their husks by machinery,
-the result being white pepper, which is sometimes
-bleached.</p>
-
-<p>The active properties of pepper are an acrid resin,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span>
-a volatile oil, and a crystallizable, colorless substance
-called pipertine, or peperic. Why white pepper
-should be preferred before the black is one of
-the anomalies of the trade. White pepper has really
-only about a quarter the strength of black pepper,
-and is the least economical to use for these reasons:
-(1) Because of being allowed to ripen it loses much
-of its pungency. (2) Because it is deprived of the
-outer skin or husk, which contains much of the constituents
-which go to make good pepper. (3) Because
-it contains scarcely a trace of piperin, one of
-the most active principles of pepper. Pepper rapidly
-deteriorates under atmospheric influences, and
-large stocks should not be carried unless provisions
-are made for storing it in air-tight receptacles, for,
-unless this precaution is taken, the goods in a few
-months will have lost their pungency, which is an
-essential characteristic of good pepper.</p>
-
-<p>Pepper is a stimulant, and used in moderate quantities
-is an aid to digestion. In India an infusion of
-it is used to create an appetite and as a cure for gout
-and palsy. It is also used in cases of cholera-morbus.
-A liniment is made from the berries for rheumatism,
-and the root is employed as a tonic stimulant and cordial.</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span></p>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 id="CUMIN_OR_CUMMIN_SEED" class="sans">CUMIN, OR CUMMIN SEED<br />
-
-<span class="subhead sep">Also Caraway, Coriander, Cardimons, Poppy, Aniseed,
-Saffron and Turmeric Described.</span>
-</h2>
-</div>
-
-<h3 class="sep">Cumin, or Cummin Seed</h3>
-
-<p>The aromatic fruit or seed of a plant of the genus
-Umbellefera. It is referred to in Scripture (Matt.
-xxxiii:23). As salt was a symbol of friendship,
-“shearers of salt and cummin” meant intimate
-friends. The seeds are linear and flat on
-one side and convex or striated on the other.
-Their odor and properties resemble the caraway, or
-anise seeds, and they are often called bastard anise.
-They are used in Germany in bread, in Holland they
-are frequently put into cheese. Norwegian anchovies
-in kegs are frequently flavored with them, and they
-are also used in making curry powder, as a carminative
-flavoring, and in veterinary medicines, etc.</p>
-
-<h3>Caraway Seed</h3>
-
-<p>The caraway plant has a branching stem 2 or 3 ft.
-high, with finely divided leaves and dense umbels
-of white or pinkish white flowers. The leaves are
-frequently used to flavor soup and the roots, which
-taper like a parsnip, and when young are boiled and
-eaten as a vegetable. The seeds are oblong, pointed at
-both ends, thickest in the middle, striated on the
-surface and of a crescent shape, they have an aromatic
-smell and warm, pungent taste. From the
-seeds is obtained a volatile oil called oil of caraway,
-of a pale yellow color which turns dark with age;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span>
-it is frequently adulterated with oil of cumin. After
-the oil has been extracted the seeds are called
-“drawn caraways,” and by way of deception are often
-mixed with good caraway seeds. They can be told
-by their shrunken, dark appearance. The color of the
-English caraway seeds is a deep brown, those of
-Germany and Holland are larger and of a light blue-brown
-color, while those from Russia, Poland and
-Bohemia are small, of a blackish brown color, and
-mixed with a good deal of dirt. There is a variety
-of a light brown color, about twice the size of the
-English caraways, imported from Mogador.</p>
-
-<p>Caraway seeds and oil are used medicinally, as a
-flavoring by bakers and confectioners, in compounding
-various liquors, particularly that known as Kummel,
-and in making Scotch cavie, or caraway, comfits;
-for this purpose the seeds are coated with sugar
-and colored red, pink, blue, yellow, etc.</p>
-
-<h3>Coriander.</h3>
-
-<p>The word “coriander” is derived from the Greek
-word Koriannon, a bed-bug, referring to the disagreeable
-smell of the whole plant when fresh, but
-the ripe and perfectly dried fruit has an agreeable
-smell and a sweetish, aromatic taste. Its an annual
-or bi-annual plant, of the genus Umbelliferce, native
-of South Europe, with a branching stem 1 or 2 ft.
-high. The lower leaves bipennate, the upper ones
-being more compounded and divided into very narrow
-divisions. The fruit is globose, containing round
-slightly ribbed or ridged seeds, about as large as
-black pepper, very light, of a yellowish brown or
-straw color externally; inside the husk of each seed
-are two closely fitting hemispherical mericarps.</p>
-
-<p>The seeds are used in medicine as a carminative.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span>
-They cover the taste of senna leaves better than
-any other substance; are occasionally mixed with
-curry powder; in domestic economy they are used
-by confectioners and bakers as flavorings, being
-often mixed with bread in the north of Europe. A
-cordial is made from them, and they are used for
-flavoring spirituous liquors, particularly gin.</p>
-
-<h3>Cardamons.</h3>
-
-<p>Cardamons consist of the seeds of two species of
-plants, the Elettaria of Malabar and the Amomon of
-China, Guinea and other parts of the East Indies. As
-the seeds of the two species differ in some respects
-we will describe the Ellettaria kind. The plant, which
-grows 5 to 10 ft. high, has a reed-like habit and bear
-long, loose racemes of flowers, succeeded by triangular
-capsules, of a dirty white color, containing a
-number of dark brown, angular seeds about the size
-of mustard seeds. The capsules or fruits, which
-vary from ½ in. to 2 in. in length, are collected from
-wild plants and also from plantations, the latter being
-generally laid out in partially cleared forests
-in which the wild plants are known to occur. When
-about 3 years old the plants begin to bear. The
-capsules do not all ripen at the same time, and the
-harvest lasts for nearly two months. The capsules
-are gathered before they are ripe and then cured in
-the sun, after which the stalks and remains of flowers
-are carefully removed by means of scissors.
-They are then graded into “shorts,” “short-longs,”
-and “long-longs,” according to their length; sometimes
-they are mixed and classed as lesser or greater
-cardamons. Cardamon seeds are exported in the
-capsules in order to prevent adulteration. The
-seeds have a very delicate aroma and are slightly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span>
-pungent. They were well known to the ancients,
-and are used at present in medicine, particularly in
-veterinary practice, also in flavoring culinary sauces,
-soups, curries, cordials, pastry, and for imparting a
-factitious strength to vinegar, beer, wines and
-spirits, especially gin; their use creates a thirst.
-The seeds depend for their quality on a pungent essential
-oil, of which they contain about 3 per cent,
-called oil of cardamons; they also contain about 10
-per cent of a fixed oil. The seeds of the “Amomum”
-species of cardamons are bright black in color outside,
-white inside and small and angular in shape;
-they are slightly aromatic, very hot and pungent.</p>
-
-<p>Cardamons are known as grains of Paradise,
-Melegueta pepper, Guinea grains and Guinea pepper.</p>
-
-<h3>Poppy Seeds</h3>
-
-<p>Poppy seeds are not unlike fine gunpowder in general
-appearance, being very small, dark blue—nearly
-black in color; they are obtained from the same
-plant that yields opium (Papavar somnniferium, or
-white poppy.) The seeds are not narcotic, and have
-a sweet taste, are oleaginous and nutritious. They
-are largely used in some parts of Europe in pastry,
-confectionery and as a substitute for almonds. Under
-the name of “Maw seeds,” they are sold as food for
-birds during moulting season. Poppy seed oil is
-sometimes used as an adulterant in olive oil; it is
-also used as an illuminant and for painting.</p>
-
-<h3>Fennel</h3>
-
-<p>Fennel is a tall, stout, aromatic herb of the parsley
-family, with finely dissected leaves, which are
-boiled and served with salmon, mackerel, etc., as a
-seasoning; the flowers are yellow. A species—F.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span>
-dulce—is cultivated in Italy as celery is with us;
-and its blanched stems are said to be more tender
-and delicate than celery, with a slight flavor of
-fennel. The seeds of another species—F. panmorium—grown
-in Bengal, have a warmish, very sweet
-taste and aromatic smell, and are used in making
-betel, in curries, and also used as a carminative.
-Fennel seeds resemble aniseeds in appearance and
-taste, and are often sold for such; they are a little
-longer and of a light brown color. The Indian seeds
-are the largest, the Italian and Japanese the smallest.
-They are used in confectionery, cookery and are
-sometimes chewed by the people of France and Germany.
-Fennel water is made from the oil obtained
-from the seeds.</p>
-
-<div class="poem-container">
-<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
-<span class="i0">And he who battled and subdued<br /></span>
-<span class="i0">A wreath of fennel wore.—Longfellow.<br /></span>
-</div></div>
-</div>
-
-<h3>Aniseed</h3>
-
-<p>Aniseed is an annual plant of the order of Umbelliferae
-of the parsley family, a native of Egypt,
-but also extensively cultivated in Russia, Germany,
-Malta and Spain. Aniseed is very similar in appearance
-to the poisonous hemlock seed, for which it has
-sometimes been mistaken. The seed, which is a little
-larger than a pin’s head, is of a greyish-green
-color. They have an aromatic smell, and warm,
-sweetish taste, and are used in condiments, in cookery
-and in the preparation of liquors, also in medicine
-as a stimulative stomachic to relieve flatulence,
-etc., particularly in infants. The properties of aniseed
-are due to a nearly colorless or sometimes blue
-volatile oil. Aniseed oil with water and sugar is
-much used in Italy as a cooling drink. The leaves of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span>
-the plant are sometimes used as a seasoning and for
-garnishing.</p>
-
-<p>Star aniseed, or China aniseed, is the fruit of a
-small evergreen tree of the order Magnoliacae, somewhat
-resembling a laurel. It receives its name from
-the star-like form of the fruit or capsule, which consists
-of a number (6 to 12) of hard, woody, one-sided
-follicies or carpels ending in a point, each containing
-a single brown, shiny seed. Star aniseed is held in
-high esteem by the Japanese and is planted near their
-temples, the seeds being burned as incense in the
-temples and over the graves of relatives. The whole
-plant is carminative, and is used by the Chinese as
-a stomachic and as a spice in their cookery. The
-qualities of the seed and oil closely resemble those
-of the common aniseed and the oil is exported to
-Europe for the same purpose—flavoring liquors.</p>
-
-<h3>Saffron</h3>
-
-<p>Consists of the dried stigmas of the autumn or fall
-crocus plant (crocus sativus), which should not be
-confounded with the spring crocus (crocus vernus),
-to which it is nearly allied. The crocus derives its
-name from Crogeus—which is from the Greek word
-Krokus, yellow—the modern Korghy in Cilicune,
-where it was grown in ancient times. The word
-“crocodile” is derived from the Greek words Krokos,
-yellow, and deilos, fearful, on the ancient supposition
-the animal avoided the place where saffron grows
-and only sheds real tears when in the vicinity of
-a crocus field, hence Fuller says: “The crocodile
-tears are never true, save he is forced where saffron
-groweth.” The phrase, “crocodile tears,” arose from
-the idea that the crocodile pretended to cry over the
-victims it had devoured. Saffron was of great importance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span>
-ages ago. It is mentioned in the third chapter
-of Solomon’s Songs; it was in favor among the
-ancient Greeks as a dye, and with both them and the
-Romans as a perfume. The streets of Rome were
-sprinkled with saffron when Nero made his entry
-into that city. In the middle ages it was employed
-in cookery and as a drug, and it is on record that
-as late as the fifteenth century persons were burned
-alive in Muremburg for adulterating saffron. It was
-introduced to England in 1339 from Tripoli by a
-pilgrim who had a stolen bulb in the hollow of his
-staff. Its main use was to color pastry and confectionery,
-hence: “I must have saffron to color the
-warden pies” (Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale, act 4,
-scene 1). The town of Saffron Waldron in Essex,
-derives its name from the fact of its being cultivated
-in that neighborhood until 1768. The cultivation of
-the crocus for saffron in England has entirely died
-out; altho the people of Cornwall at the present day
-use more saffron than all the rest of Great Britain.
-It is cultivated in China, Cashmere, Persia, Asia
-Minor, Egypt, Austria, Hungary, Russia, Italy, France,
-but the chief source of supply is Spain.</p>
-
-<p>A saffron field is not in full bearing until the end
-of the second year, at the end of the third year it is
-exhausted, and it is said that the soil is so poisoned
-that it cannot be used for any other crops for several
-years. Each acre produces from 600,000 to 700,000
-bulbs and each bulb 2 or 3 flowers. About 150,000
-flowers are required to produce 2 lbs. of fresh pistils,
-which when dried are reduced to one-fifth of that
-weight.</p>
-
-<p>The small yield, the labor required, the care in
-culture and the difficulty of preserving the product in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span>
-a good state renders saffron an expensive article—about
-80c an ounce. On the seed-bearer of the flower
-there is a thread-like hook or fork, which at its upper
-head terminates in three thick, dark, orange-colored
-nerves or tissues; to save and collect these tissues
-the flowers are gathered in the fall, just as they are
-breaking, or a little before; they are plucked early
-in the morning, and these little masses are then
-pulled out with a considerable portion—about 1¼ in.
-of thread-like stem, to which they adhere. They are
-then dried over little charcoal fires or in the sun.
-It is this dried stigma, the trifid orange-colored tops
-of the central organ of the flower, that is the saffron
-of commerce. The remainder of the flower is useless.</p>
-
-<p>Saffron as it generaly comes to the trade consists
-of a large number of crooked and mixed-up threads,
-of an orange-red color; it has a peculiar, sharp, rooty
-and pungent smell, and a bitter balsam-like taste;
-that of a whitish yellow or blackish color is old and
-inferior. The great solubility of saffron prevents its
-use as a dye for fabrics, its place being taken by
-aniline dyes. Its coloring power is remarkable, a
-single grain rubbed to a fine powder with a little
-sugar will impart a distinct tint of yellow to 10 gals,
-of water; soaked in spirits or warm water it will
-yield three-fourths of its weight of a deep orange
-yellow coloring matter, which is perfectly wholesome,
-and if kept tightly corked will keep for some time.
-The chief uses of saffron are for flavoring and coloring
-confectionery and culinary articles; it is also
-used as a perfume and is given to birds during the
-moulting season. Spanish saffron is divided into five
-grades, according to the district in which it is cultivated.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span>
-It is generally wrapped in tinfoil and then
-in white tissue paper and packed in tin boxes or
-strong cartons.</p>
-
-<p>On account of its high price saffron is often counterfeited
-or adulterated with the petals of safflowers,
-African saffron, Meadow or wild saffron, marigold,
-arnica, etc. It is also loaded with glycerine, glucose,
-dyed vegetable filamenta, honey, sulphate of soda,
-barium sulphate, etc., and exhausted saffron is sometimes
-re-colored with aniline dye. The stigma of
-genuine saffron immediately expands on being moistened
-with warm water, and its form is so characteristic
-that it cannot be mistaken for the flowerets of
-any of its adulterates.</p>
-
-<p>Cake saffron is generally made from the dried flowers
-of the safflowers—a thistle-like plant of the aster
-family—or the florets of the saffron plants made into
-a paste with gum-water; it is used for dying and making
-rouge.</p>
-
-<h3>Turmeric</h3>
-
-<p>Turmeric is an East Indian plant (curcuma longa)
-of the ginger family, with the same properties as
-ginger, only not so powerful. It is also grown in
-Zanzibar, China and the Malayan archipelago. It
-is a stemless plant with dark green leaves varying
-from 6 in. to 24 in. long and 3 in. to 6 in. wide,
-flowers of a dull yellow color and a tuberous root
-varying in thickness from that of a quill to ½ in.
-in diameter and often a foot long, with joints or ring-like
-swellings at short intervals; of, a yellowish to
-orange color outside and sometimes white and sometimes
-orange color inside. They are classed as long
-or round tubes according to their shape. From the
-root is made a kind of arrowroot much relished by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span>
-the natives of India to color their faces. In medicine
-it is used as a cordial or stomachic; as an anti-scorbutic,
-and for stimulating the digestive organs. In a
-fresh state it is given to expel intestinal worms and
-in diarrhoea. It is used in varnishes and ointments
-and as a dye for silks and woolens, but it is now
-chiefly employed in making Indian curries or pickles,
-mustard, compounds, pudding spices, chow-chow pickles.
-A kind growing in Bengal, called “Mango ginger,”
-from its resemblance to the mango, is used for
-the same purpose as ginger.</p>
-
-<p>Turmeric paper is a bibulous paper, yellow from
-saturation with the extract of turmeric, used as a test
-for alkalies, by which it is turned brown or red. Turmeric
-is also made from the roots of the canna, a
-member of the same family of plants cultivated at
-Sierra Leone.</p>
-
-<p>Turmeric is adulterated with yellow ocher and carbonate
-of soda. Turmeric is insoluble in cold water,
-only partly soluble in boiling water, but is quite
-soluble in alcohol, forming beautiful yellow crystals.</p>
-
-<h3>Nasturtium</h3>
-
-<p>The flower buds and fruits of the common garden
-nasturtium are often used as a spice after being
-ground and dried; they are also pickled like capers
-and used on fish, meats, etc. The name is derived
-from nausa, nose, and tortus, twist, from the effects
-of its pungent smell or taste.</p>
-
-<div class="chapter"><div class="transnote">
-<h2 class="nobreak p1" id="Transcribers_Notes">Transcriber’s Note</h2>
-
-<p>Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made
-consistent when a predominant preference was found
-in the original book; otherwise they were not changed.</p>
-
-<p>Simple typographical errors were corrected; unpaired
-quotation marks were remedied when the change was
-obvious, and otherwise left unpaired.</p>
-
-<p>A Table of Contents was added by the Transcriber.</p>
-
-<p>The book cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p>
-
-<p>Page <a href="#Page_28">28</a>: “the races of hands” probably should be
-“the races or hands”.</p>
-
-<p>Page <a href="#Page_32">32</a>: “musterial” probably should be “material”
-or “materials”.</p>
-</div></div>
-
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<p>&nbsp;</p>
-<hr class="full" />
-<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPICES, THEIR HISTORIES***</p>
-<p>******* This file should be named 60192-h.htm or 60192-h.zip *******</p>
-<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br />
-<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/0/1/9/60192">http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/1/9/60192</a></p>
-<p>
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
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-
-<p>Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
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