[MR] *WH* Mystery spice

[C. Brian Towey]

This should be worth a thousand words:

 

http://tinyurl.com/ahmgp

 

It's not grains of paradise, turmeric, or anything I recognize.  The flavor
is very mild, almost musky, with no hint of spice oils such as you find in
nutmeg, allspice, clove, and other "sweet" spices.  I can imagine using it
to create a meaty under-taste in a meatless curry.  The pods are fibrous and
rather tough, but the seeds inside are very thin-skinned and crunch
effortlessly between your teeth.

 

Charles

 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-keep at windmastershill.org [mailto:owner-keep at windmastershill.org]
On Behalf Of C. Brian Towey
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 9:46 AM
To: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org; keep at windmastershill.org
Subject: *WH* Mystery spice

 

There I was at Pennsic, and.

 

Along came a wandering merchant with a broad basket full of all kinds of
spices.  He had one spice I didn't recognize, and said it was used in North
African and sometimes French cooking.  I bought a small bag of lumpy brown
seed pods, each about the size of a whole nutmeg.  They don't weigh much, so
I suppose they are mostly hollow.

 

There's just one problem.  He told me the name of this spice, but by the
time I got home, I'd forgotten it.  Without a name, I can't guess what to
cook with it.

 

I feel a bit as though I had traded a cow for some magic beans. 

 

Can any of you guess what spice this might be?

 

Sheepishly,

 

Charles Fleming