Cumin, Camels, and Caravans. Gary Paul Nabhan
and Spices. Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2006.
Hill, Tony. The Contemporary Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2004.
Katzer, Gernot. “Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages.” http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/index.html. Accessed May 8, 2013.
Sortun, Ana, with Nicole Chaison. Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean. New York: Regan Books, 2006.
• CARDAMOM •
After saffron and vanilla, cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is the most expensive spice in the world. The essential oils terpinene, cineol, and limonene make it intensely aromatic. The twenty-five jet black seeds in each green-and-white lanternlike pod simultaneously conjure up the flavors of sassafras, eucalyptus, allspice, cloves, camphor, and pepper. It is amazing how their fragrance can be astringent and offer a delicate warmth at the same time.
This distant relative of ginger appears to have originated in the Kerala Hills in the Western Ghats of southern India, and references to it in ancient Sanskrit texts date back five thousand years to the Late Vedic period. It reached Babylon by 7000 BCE and arrived in Greece no later than 50 CE. Today, the cardamom shrub is widely cultivated from India to Guatemala. There is another variety with larger fruit from Sri Lanka as well.
Linguistically, we can trace the cardamom trade overland into Asia Minor, and by sea to the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. The terms for cardamom in the Middle Eastern and East African languages are all quite similar: habbu al-hayl in Arabic; hel in Hebrew, Farsi, and Amharic; and hil in Azeri and Tigriniya. These cognates are derived from the ancient Sanskrit eli, ela, or ellka, which likely gave rise to the Hindi and Kashmiri elaichi, the Bengali elach, and the Gujarajati elchi or ilaychi, as well. Curiously, European terms, particularly those in the Romance languages, exhibit a total break with the terms from East Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. They all have their root in the ancient Greek kardamomom, which, according to spice scholar Gernot Katzer, is of uncertain and inexplicable origin. Kardamomom was often linked to a presently unidentified spice, amomon, as was cinnamon, or kinnamomon. One possible hypothesis is that amomon referred to Amomum subulatum, the large cardamom of Nepal and of Sikkim in northeast India, which may have dropped out of use in Europe after Roman times.
The use of cardamom by Bedouins on the Arabian Peninsula is ancient, but it has remained strong to this moment. In fact, many contemporary Bedouin nomads carry coffee pots that have a small chamber in their spouts for holding cardamom pods. Although my close Arab relatives in the Middle East are not Bedouins, they are no less attached to cardamom. When I am in any home in the Bekáa Valley of Lebanon, it seems as though cardamom has insinuated itself into every coffee cup, many rice puddings (roz bi haleeb), and even some morning man’oushé pastries. In fact, “regular,” or mazbûta, coffee in Lebanon is typically served with a pinch of ground cardamom and a drop or two of orange blossom water.
Cardamom is a key ingredient in many of the great spice mixtures of the world, including Yemeni zhoug; Syrian, Turkish, and Iraqi baharat; Indian curry powders; blends for chai and khorma; and Malaysian masalas. Cardamom pods are once again finding their way into specialty gins, where they keep juniper berries and cassia bark company.
Gambrelle, Fabienne. The Flavor of Spices. Paris: Flammarion, 2008.
Green, Aliza. Field Guide to Herbs and Spices. Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2006.
Hill, Tony. The Contemporary Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2004.
Karaoglan, Aida. Food for the Vegetarian: Traditional Lebanese Recipes. Beirut: Naufal Press, 1987.
Katzer, Gernot. “Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages.” http://gernot-katzers-spicepages.com/engl/index.html. Accessed September 1, 2011.
Ravindran, P. N., and K. J. Madhusoodanan. Cardamom: The Genus Elettaria. London: Taylor and Francis, 2002.
• DATES KNEADED WITH LOCUSTS AND SPICES •
Nomads of the Arabian Desert were opportunistic in their foraging for foods, looking for windfalls or unanticipated bumper crops that they could harvest, dry, and store for use over the lean months that would inevitably follow. The food had to be compact and nonperishable, for it would ride in a camel saddlebag for months. It was often traded for staple cereals grown by oasis dwellers such as the Minaeans.
The following recipe combines the locust recipe in the compilation made by Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq, identified by Lilia Zaouali as the author of one of the oldest surviving Arabic cookbooks, with the ancient practice of kneading locusts into date pulp. I have incorporated spices that have been found on the Arabian Peninsula or obtained through trade with India for millennia, in particular, fennel and asafetida. Chef Ana Sortun finds that the addition of fennel seeds imparts a sweet, warm, almost mintlike flavor to fruits and vegetables. According to Tony Hill of World Spice Merchants, the ground powder of asafetida (a member of the parsley family) emanates an unbelievably strong sulfurous odor until exposed to heat, which transforms it into a curiously complex set of onion and garlic flavors. For this recipe, wild dates are historically preferable, though Medjools or many other widely available domesticated varieties will do. Avoid the more perishable types, such as the Black Sphinx, for this dish. If you cannot find a swarm of locusts (or are wary of capturing it if you do), you can substitute salted roasted grasshoppers, which are available as chapulines in some Mexican American spice shops importing their supplies from Mexico City.
Accompany with hot mint or iced hibiscus tea. Serves 6 to 8.
| 4 | cups live locusts | |
| 4 | cups water | |
| ¼ | cup sea salt | |
| 2 | tablespoons coriander seeds | |
| 2 | tablespoons fennel seeds | |
| 2 | tablespoons ground asafetida | |
| For the Brine Solution | ||
| 5 | quarts plus 1 cup water | |
| 3 | cups rose water | |
| 6 | tablespoons salt | |
| 8 | cups Medjool dates, pitted and chopped |
Find a swarm of locusts resting after a long flight and gather them in a covered basket. Under the shade of a date palm, carefully pick out and discard the dead locusts. Place the live ones in a large bowl, add the water and salt to drown them, then drain off the water and return the locusts to the basket.
In a stone mortar, combine the coriander seeds and fennel seeds and grind together to a fine to medium-fine powder. Stir in the asafetida.
To make the brine solution, combine the water, rose water, and salt in a 6-quart container and stir to dissolve the salt. In a ceramic or other pottery dish, arrange the locusts in a layer ½ inch deep. Ladle 4 cups of the brine solution over the locusts and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the spice mixture evenly over the top. Top the layers with a heavy plate, pressing down on the plate, and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain off the brine, then repeat the layers of locusts, brine solution, and spice mixture 5 more times, pressing down on the plate and letting the layers stand for 10 minutes each time. Each time you drain off the brine, it should be lighter colored. The final batch should be nearly clear. Transfer the drained locusts to a crock and seal the top so the container is airtight. Let the locusts ferment at room temperature for at least a few days or up to a couple weeks.
Transfer the locusts to a large bowl, add the dates, and knead them together with your hands until fully combined and a soft mixture has formed. Pat the mixture into disklike cakes about 2 inches in diameter and ¼ inch thick. Store in a saddlebag of camel leather.
Hill, Tony. The Contemporary Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices: Seasonings for the Global Kitchen. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2004, pp. 42–43.
Sortun, Ana, with Nicole Chaison. Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean. New York: Regan Books, 2006, pp. 72–73.
Zaouali, Lilia. Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World: A Concise History with 174 Recipes. Translated by M. B. DeBevoise. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007, p. 140.
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