N - Nutmeg

From the Food Lover's Companion, "When Columbus sailed from Spain looking for the East Indies, nutmeg was one of the spices for which he was searching. Native to the Spice Islands, this seed from the nutmeg tree (a tropical evergreen) was extremely popular throughout much of the world from the 15th to the 19th century. When the fruit of the tree is picked, it is split to reveal the nutmeg seed surrounded by a lacy membrane that, when dried and ground, becomes the spice mace. The hard, egg-shaped nutmeg seed is grayish-brown and about 1 inch long. The flavor and aroma are delicately warm, spicy and sweet. Nutmeg is sold ground or whole. Whole nutmeg freshly ground with a nutmeg grater or grinder is superior to that which is commercially ground and packaged. Nutmeg is excellent when used in baked goods, milk- or cream-based preparations like custards, white sauces or eggnog and on fruits and vegetables-particularly potatoes, spinach and squash."





Although not my favorite spice, I love sprinkling nutmeg in my dairy based foods like soups and carbonara sauce. It does make the dish a bit sweet, but in general, I love the taste of it. I think dairy and nutmeg make a perfect couple. =)

This picture was taken sometime this year, when my sister and I were cooking some spaghetti carbonara. After she sprinkled some nutmeg in the pot, she placed the bottle in the counter, but our cat was trying to see what we were doing, and when the cat climbed the counter and walked, the cat knocked out the bottle and it resulted to this. Well, a bottle of nutmeg isn't really cheap - we were quite angry at the cat, but of course we didn't scold the cat. Looking at the bright side of things, this scene made the kitchen smelled good.

We now have a new bottle of nutmeg. Yey for that!

*** Jenn ***