If you want to try a different kind of spice, nutmeg should be on the top of your list. It is a great spice that can enhance the depth of flavors of any dish. Nutmeg has a sweet, spicy, and nutty flavor.
If you taste nutmeg in large amounts, your tongue will get numb temporarily because of the presence of Eugenol. In addition, the taste of nutmeg can feel overpowering for people with sensitive palates.
Nutmeg undoubtedly has a pleasant flavor and aroma. However, it doesn’t taste good when consumed alone, so you should use it with other flavors.
What is Nutmeg?
Nutmeg is a spice that originated from East Indians but is now used by people worldwide. Nutmeg has myristicin that contains hallucinogenic properties if it is eaten in a large amount.
At first glance, nutmeg looks like a spice used for baking, but that’s not the only area of cooking it can elevate. Nutmeg is also commonly used in Western cuisines. Nutmeg is made of an outer shell that has two seeds inside.
The outer shell is ground to make powder. This powder adds flavor to the food. Inside the outer shell, there is a layer of mace. Mace is a dried lacy membrane that covers the nutmeg seeds.
If you want to make nutmeg seasoning at home, dry the seeds for 6 to 8 weeks. During the process, the hard seed coat is shrunk. After that, it is separated from the outer covering and sold as a whole.
Before it was used as a spice, nutmeg was used as an antidote for poison. In Chinese tradition, nutmeg is used to prepare medicines for gastrointestinal pain. Nutmeg is found in two forms:
• Whole seed:
The whole nutmeg has a size of an apricot pit and lasts for a longer time.
• Grounded:
You can easily find grounded nutmeg in local markets. It is common in the small islands of Indonesia, the Banda Islands.
How to store nutmeg
If you have ground nutmeg, store it in an air-tight jar and keep it away from heat, light, and moisture. The grounded nutmeg can stay fresh for up to 6 months.
If you have the whole nutmeg, do not keep it in a warm place. Instead, grating the whole nutmeg is always a great idea since it can provide a fresh taste to any dish.
How do you know if nutmeg has gone bad
To check the potency of nutmeg, rub the whole nutmeg between your fingers and taste it. If the flavor and smell of nutmeg are not pleasant, it is not safe to use. Whole nutmeg can stay fresh for four years in the pantry, whereas you can store ground nutmeg for two years. If there are any molds on the surface of the nutmeg, discard it immediately.
Dishes with Nutmeg
Dishes that you can try with nutmeg are as follows:
• Pull-apart Bread with Pumpkin and Spinach: Bake the bread with stuffed pumpkin, spinach, and nutmeg. Bake it for 30 minutes and serve the dish hot.
• Nutmeg Coat creamy French toast: Take a bowl and add eggs, egg yolk, yogurt, sugar, and nutmeg. Whisk the ingredients well and dip the bread in the mixture. Now fry the fixture and sprinkle sugar and add maple syrup.
• Pumpkin Pie spice whipped cream: Take a bowl and add cream, pumpkin spice, and vanilla extract. Whisk the ingredients well until it forms a smooth texture.
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