Spices and How to Know Them

THE cinnamon tree has been known to live two hundred years and its history is nearly as old as the history of man. It appears to have been the first spice sought after in all Or...

Pepper (Piper) Nigrum, a name employed by the Romans, and derived by them from the Greek word _peperi_; the Greeks in their turn must have derived it from the Hindoos. Botanical...

AS far as its practical use to the merchant or consumer of spices is concerned, it would be as well, perhaps, if this chapter remained unwritten, and yet this treatise would be...

The nutmeg was known by the Persians (as jouzbewa) and by the Arabians (jowzalteib) in the eighth century. There are about forty different species. Although the name myristikas...

CLOVES are the unexpanded flower buds of Eugenia Caryophyllata of Caryophyllus Aromaticus, a tree belonging to the natural order Myrtacca, and are named from the French word clo...

The mustard of commerce is the seed, whole or powdered, of the several species of the genus brassica (or sinapis) of the mustard family. They are (cruciferous) plants which grow...

NEARLY every one is familiar with the subject of this chapter. The sweet and aromatic herbs for culinary purposes are found in both hemispheres, and little, therefore, need be s...

As a rule, spices grow above ground, but ginger is an exception, it being the roots or rhizomes of Zingiber. The root is herbaceous and creeping, tuberous, and of a somewhat fla...

CAYENNE pepper, Guiana pepper, Spanish pepper, Mexican chilli, as it is often called, more commonly spoken of as red pepper, is a genus of herbs or shrubs of the nightshade fami...

The pimento tree belongs to the myrtle family and is one of the most beautiful trees known as an evergreen. It grows to a height of from twenty to thirty feet and occasionally i...

THE Dutch at one time tried to control much of the spice trade but were frustrated by the birds which carried the seeds and planted them in other countries. We are strongly incl...

ALTHOUGH nutmegs and mace are the fruit of the same tree, and although they have similar properties, they are yet so different in growth and flavor as to justify giving to them...

which revolve through similar stationary teeth; the material is retained by a semi-circular perforated plate until it is reduced to the size of the perforation, or about the siz...

LONG pepper (_Piper officinarum_) is a perennial plant and has oblong leaves attenuated at the base, and is a native of Indian Archipelago, Nepaul, and Java. It is found growing...

“Be still! oh North winds, and come, oh Southern breezes, and blow upon my garden, that the spice trees therein may blossom and bear fruit!” “His cheeks are as a bed of spices,...

WHITE pepper is thought by many to be produced by a separate plant, but it is the fruit of the black pepper vine, the change in appearance being brought about by artificial prep...

IT is with a certain feeling of helplessness and loneliness that I am venturing upon the attempt to trace out the history of spices, as I have not a spice grove or garden to ste...