An individual spice, not a seasoning blend with multiple ingredients, allspice is indigenous to tropical Central America and the West Indies. Aptly named, allspice has a pleasantly warm and fragrant aroma of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and with just a hint of pepper, too.
Most Allspice is cultivated from Jamaica, but Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala are also important producers. The Jamaican berries are considered the highest quality and are the most clove-like. Allspice berries from Jamaica are also picked by hand from cultivated trees while berries from the other countries are usually harvested from wild trees. Jamaican Allspice produces the highest oil content of between 4 and 5 percent and is more uniform in appearance than the other berries.
We also offer Ground Allspice in addition to these Whole Allspice Berries. A staple ingredient in most jerk spice mixtures Allspice works well in combination with chili powder, cloves, coriander, garlic, ginger, dry mustard powder and pepper. It is also found in some of these well searched for recipes – Sweet Potato Hash, Jerk Chicken Marinade, Amish Cinnamon Bread and Cincinnati Chili. |
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