What do cloves come from

Botanical Name. Indonesia and Madagascar. Syzygium aromaticum. Eugenia aromatica. Eugenia caryophyllus. Caryophyllus aromatica. Smaller amounts were from Sri Lanka, Kenya, and China 4. The first references to cloves are found in Asian literature from the Chinese Han period under the name "chicken-tongue spice".

From the 8th century on, cloves became one of the major spices in European commerce. In the Moluccas Islands now part of Indonesia , where cloves were first discovered, parents planted a clove tree when a child was born.

When the clove forests were first discovered, all were enchanted with the fragrance and beauty of this tropical evergreen tree which "must always see the sea" in order to thrive. Cloves were extremely costly and played an important part in world history. Wars were fought to secure exclusive rights to the profitable clove business. For many years, the Moluccas Islands were part of the Dutch East Indies and the Dutch government sought to control their monopoly by destroying every clove tree that grew anywhere else.

Cloves can also cause a numbing sensation in the mouth. This is because the eugenol found in cloves is a natural anesthetic such that it was traditionally used to numb and reduce toothache pain 2. Cloves are often found studding a holiday ham, in Indian biryani dishes, or in pumpkin pie spiced drinks and desserts.

Buying whole cloves, you can easily produce ground cloves when needed. This is desirable because ground cloves, like any ground spice, will quickly lose potency and depth of flavor. You can use a spice grinder, mortar, and pestle, or a clean coffee grinder you designate for this purpose. Be sure to clean the grinder well afterward before you use it with other spices as the clove flavor and aroma will linger.

If you don't have cloves, a quick substitution in a recipe is an equal amount of allspice. Or, make a blend of nutmeg and cinnamon equal amounts of each as a clove substitute. A common non-culinary use of cloves is the kretek clove cigarette produced in Indonesia.

The essential oil is used in aromatherapy for stress relief. In the traditional medicine of non-Western cultures, cloves are used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine and Chinese medicine as a warming and stimulating substance. Cloves can be found in small jars in the spice section of the supermarket. You will see both the whole cloves and ground cloves. But you might be able to find them offered for a lower cost in the Hispanic food section, where they are labeled as clavos de olor, or simply clavos.

International grocery stores also often sell cloves for far less than you will them in the supermarket. Some specialty markets offer Penang cloves, which are gourmet cloves that are individually selected by hand to ensure that each one is flawlessly shaped.

Cloves should be stored in an airtight container, preferably in a cool and dark place. Whole cloves will retain their potency longer than ground cloves, remaining fresh for about a year compared to three months for ground cloves. Cloves have long been used in home remedies to treat for toothache pain. The eugenol that provides the flavor of cloves is also a pain-reliever and can help relieve inflammation. Look for clove oil or oil of cloves in the tooth care section of a drug store.

Be aware that it can be toxic for children, so keep any clove oil out of reach and use only child-safe, diluted preparations on children.

Read the directions carefully and consult your dentist or pediatrician if you have any doubt as to the safety. Syzygium aromaticum l. Myrtaceae : traditional uses, bioactive chemical constituents, pharmacological and toxicological activities. An overview on the anti-inflammatory potential and antioxidant profile of eugenol.

Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. Kumarswamy A. They come from an evergreen bush that belongs to the Myrtle tree family and are known in scientific circles as Syzygium aromaticum , if you're into that sort of thing via United States Department of Agriculture. The unopened flower buds, when dried, resemble tiny microphones, with little round heads atop a stick stem.

Fun fact: those four little spikes that stick out at the top are there to protect the flower while it grows inside the bud, isn't that sweet? According to Plants of the World Online , clove is native to the Indonesian Maluku Islands, where it was exclusively found until the 17th century.

These days, however, the spice is readily available at your nearest grocery store, where it is sold in both ground or whole form. Cloves add a strong, pungent flavor to everything from meat to chai to seasonal pies. Though as stated above the clove tree originated in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, the spicy plant can now be found in a multitude of tropical locations — from parts of the Caribbean to Zanzibar, per Plants of the World Online. The spread of clove trees wasn't exactly your standard birds-and-bees, pollination fairy tale, however.

Long before they could be found in your spice rack, cloves were at the center of European trade wars. In the 17th century, European nations that wanted control of the spice trade went to war over the humble clove, and other spices like it. According to MasterClass , cloves had been used in China for centuries for both culinary and medicinal purposes plus, you'd have to pop a few cloves before your meeting with the emperor to ensure fresh breath , and European colonialist powers were starting to take notice.

By the time the spice wars rolled around, cloves were such a hot ticket item that the Dutch even went so far as to set fire to any clove tree that wasn't growing in Dutch-occupied territory, in order to monopolize the market. Well, not exactly, but on their own, whole cloves are very bitter-tasting.