CARDAMOM
- Fruit Routes
- Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
- 60 x 60 x 4 cm (23.6 x 23.6 x 1.5 in)
- Ref: 646628/320
£ 1,200.00
This spice, which has a mild, ginger-like, sweet flavour, is among the world’s oldest and most expensive spices.
Cardamom plants take about three years to bear fruit. The pods contain brown or black seeds so tiny that it takes four pods to fill one quarter of a teaspoon: only saffron and vanilla cost more by weight.
Cardamom is used in the Middle East in curries, pickles and custards, and in spice blends such as garam masala in India. It is also chewed as a nut and used as an aromatic and essential oil in perfumes.
It originated in India and Indonesia but was introduced by a German coffee planter to Guatemala in 1914. Now the Central American country grows and exports the most cardamom in the world. The farmers in the central region of Alta Verapaz produce 70% of the nation’s crop.
Cardamom is not even used in Guatemala’s cuisine, which is similar to Mexican with its emphasis on chillies, tostadas and enchiladas. And Guatemala sells large amounts of cardamom to India!
