Robert O. Fielding

“ The active properties of pepper are an acrid resin,51 a volatile oil, and a crystallizable, colorless substance called pipertine, or peperic. Why white pepper should be preferred before the black is one of the anomalies of the trade. White pepper has really only about a quarter the strength of black pepper, and is the least economical to use for these reasons: (1) Because of being allowed to ripen it loses much of its pungency. (2) Because it is deprived of the outer skin or husk, which contains much of the constituents which go to make good pepper. ”

“ The nut is longer than the true species and40 is sold under the name of long nutmeg. California nutmeg, a tree of the pine family, called also stinking nutmeg or stinking yew, from the disagreeable odor of the leaves and wood when bruised and burned, and yielding a fruit resembling true nutmegs. Clove nutmeg, a Madagascar tree of the laurel family, the fruit a pungent kernel resembling the true nutmeg and used as a spice. Peruvian nutmeg, a large tree of the monimiad family, yielding an aromatic fruit. From Borneo a wild, soapy nutmeg and mace (M. fatua) are often palmed off as the true kinds. ”

“ If the berries are left too long on the vines they lose part of their aromatic, pungent hot taste, and if gathered too soon they become broken and dusty in drying. After drying, when they become black and shriveled up, they are cleaned and winnowed. Good black pepper is firm and not too deeply wrinkled, does not easily crumble or break in the hand, it is also heavy and readily sinks in water. The inner seed should be hard, round and smooth and of a grayish-brown color. ”

“ The fruit grows so close together on the spike that when ripe they become one solid mass. There is also a variety of long pepper called elephant pepper. Long peppers are mostly used for pickles. A medium, called Pippua moola, is made from the roots and stems; it is very stimulating.
Cubeb peppers are the berries of the vine Cubeb officinalis, a product of Java, Borneo and Sumatra, but mostly imported by way of Batavia and Canton. They are of a gray color, about the size of black pepper, somewhat longer, more wrinkled and with a short slender stalk. They have a hot, camphor taste. ”

“ The best ginger grown comes from Jamaica. It is of a superior strength, fine flavor and a light, handsome color. A peculiar trade custom prevails in Jamaica with regard to ginger, which is not sold by weight or measure but by the “heap,” and the size of the heap governs the price and is an indication, to a certain extent, of the quality and quantity of the crop. If the heap is small, the price is high; if the heap is large, then the price is lower. If the races or hands, are finely shaped and large, there are fewer in the heap; if small, dark and mealy, the heap is made larger. ”

“ Star aniseed is held in high esteem by the Japanese and is planted near their temples, the seeds being burned as incense in the temples and over the graves of relatives. The whole plant is carminative, and is used by the Chinese as a stomachic and as a spice in their cookery. The qualities of the seed and oil closely resemble those of the common aniseed and the oil is exported to Europe for the same purpose—flavoring liquors. ”

“ Every manufacturer has his own particular formula, and consequently there are many different qualities, both in the pure mustard and the compounds. One is composed of 37 per cent brown and 50 per cent white mustard flour, 10 per cent of rice flour, 3 per cent of black pepper, a little Chili pepper and ginger.
Pure mustard oil, as pressed from the seed, is not pungent and will not blister unless mixed with water.
The English mustard seed is the best in the world. Of this class 4,995,800 lbs. of seed and 1,307,202 lbs. of flour were imported during the year 1908. ”

“ Pure oil of cloves is almost colorless, with a faint yellow tinge and the strong smell and burning taste of cloves. When old it turns to a reddish brown color. It has a greater specific gravity than water, in which it will sink.
Clove stalks and mother cloves are used in the manufacture of ground cloves and mixed spices. In Brazil the flower-buds of the tree whose bark furnishes cloves cassia are often used as substitutes for true cloves. ”

“ For the uncoated ginger the fresh-dug rhizomes, after being washed, are soaked in water for some time and then peeled or scraped—a most delicate operation requiring the hand of an expert. Owing to the peculiar formation of the races, no machine has yet been invented that will do the work satisfactorily. The outer rind or skin is deftly taken off by means of a common knife, so as not to injure the inner root, as a loss of the pungent volatile oil, to which ginger owes its value, would follow and thus impair its commercial worth. After being peeled the races are soaked in water over night. ”

“ If the berries be left on the vines until over-ripe they lose their pulpy husk by natural decay and thus become actually white pepper, altho in reality they are the kernels of black pepper.
Singapore white are berries cultivated in the neighboring islands and the husks are removed at Singapore by hand and friction before the berries are fully dried. Penang white is really grown at Sumatra, but imported into Penang in a dried state. There the berries are soaked in lime and water for several weeks, until the pulp is soft, when it is rubbed off by hand and washing ”

“ It is most esteemed as a condiment, being aromatic and appetizing, and not so acrid or biting as is most cayenne. Paprika, commercial name for the mild, sweet varieties of capsicum, chiefly grown in Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Jamaica, Japan and Zanzibar.
Japanese pepper is the fruit of Xanthoxylum, an entirely different genus of plants to the capsicum family. The fruit capsules when bruised are agreeably pungent and aromatic. It is much esteemed as a condiment in China and Japan. ”

“ Another kind is distinguished by a mace-like odor and taste. Cubebs are now mostly used as a medicine.
Ashantee or West African pepper is the dried berry of a pepper plant which grows in tropical Africa. It is smoother and smaller than the black pepper and resembles the Cubeb very closely. In taste it resembles the ordinary black pepper. At one time its importation was forbidden by the king of Portugal, as it threatened to interfere with the commerce of India.
Betel pepper is the berry of Chavica betel, a species of climbing vine largely cultivated in the East Indies, Ceylon, Burma, Siam, etc. ”

“ A small quantity of boracic acid will accomplish the same purpose as lime, and Paris white and barytes will serve to mask the identity as well as the defects. A good nutmeg should have no worm-holes, be full of oil and cut firm like a piece of wood, and if a pin is thrust into one the oil should ooze out on its being withdrawn.
The Penang nutmegs, which are generally not limed, are considered the best, altho some prefer the Banda or Batavia, and after these the Singapore. ”

“ Zanzibar capsicums or chilies, are dirty looking, of a brownish-red color and very hot. A variety from Japan are bright red, not so pungent as the other growths, but of finer aroma.
C. ceresiforme, the fruit is spherical, sub-cordate, oblate or occasionally pointed. The flesh is firm, from 1-12 to 1⁄2 in. thick, and very pungent; from the shape of its fruit it is called the cherry capsicum, or pepper.
C. grossum, originally from India, grows 2 ft. high, with a few branches and large leaves 3 to 5 in. long, the fruit is large, oblong or ovate, and is known as bell pepper ”

“ It is only when the tree is about 6 or 8 years old that the female tree can be distinguished from the male, and of the latter only a few are allowed to remain for fertilizing purposes, the rest being cut down. The nutmeg tree continues to yield from 70 to 80 years after reaching maturity (8 years) . Each tree on an average will produce 10 lbs. of nutmegs and 11⁄2 lbs. of mace annually. The fruit is yellowish, edible drupe, about the size of a peach ”

“ The fruit is globose, containing round slightly ribbed or ridged seeds, about as large as black pepper, very light, of a yellowish brown or straw color externally; inside the husk of each seed are two closely fitting hemispherical mericarps.
The seeds are used in medicine as a carminative.54 They cover the taste of senna leaves better than any other substance; are occasionally mixed with curry powder; in domestic economy they are used by confectioners and bakers as flavorings, being often mixed with bread in the north of Europe. ”

“ It evaporates rapidly on exposure to air. When cold it becomes somewhat spongy and has a marbled or mottled appearance. It becomes hard with age and is exported in small bricks, 10 in. by 21⁄2 in., wrapped in palm leaves. It is known under several names, as nutmeg butter, balsam of nutmeg, concrete oil or the mace oil of commerce, and as Banda soap, sometimes made from the distilled nutmeg leaves, counterfeited by using a foreign fatty substance as palm oil, nut, wax and animal fat, boiled with powdered nutmeg and flavored with sassafras, which gives it the right color and flavor. ”

“ Ground cayenne pepper soon loses its bright color when kept too long or exposed to the light, and becomes dingy in appearance, so it is not always wise to judge by looks alone, as red ocher, turmeric, mustard, rice, sawdust, salt, brick dust, etc., have been found in cayenne pepper. ”

“ Cardamons consist of the seeds of two species of plants, the Elettaria of Malabar and the Amomon of China, Guinea and other parts of the East Indies. As the seeds of the two species differ in some respects we will describe the Ellettaria kind. The plant, which grows 5 to 10 ft. high, has a reed-like habit and bear long, loose racemes of flowers, succeeded by triangular capsules, of a dirty white color, containing a number of dark brown, angular seeds about the size of mustard seeds. ”

“ The quicker they are dried the less the loss of aroma. Good cloves have a strong aromatic smell, a hot, spicy taste and a light brown or tan color. The season23 for harvesting is from September to March. A 10-year-old tree yields about 20 lbs. of cloves a year, the yield increasing up to 100 lbs. for a 20-year old tree.
Penang cloves are from the Straits Settlements. They are large, plump and of a bright color. Amboyna cloves are not so large as the Penang and are of a dark brown color. Zanzibar cloves are smaller than the Amboyna, a bright reddish color and generally very dry. ”

“ When the mace, a bright-red membraneous substance, is removed from the nut it is pressed flat between blocks of wood and left to dry until it has acquired the right color. The preparation of mace for the market requires experience rather than technical knowledge. If packed too green it is liable to mold, and is subject to attacks from insects, which render it valueless in commerce. ”

“ The leaves are frequently used to flavor soup and the roots, which taper like a parsnip, and when young are boiled and eaten as a vegetable. The seeds are oblong, pointed at both ends, thickest in the middle, striated on the surface and of a crescent shape, they have an aromatic smell and warm, pungent taste. From the seeds is obtained a volatile oil called oil of caraway, of a pale yellow color which turns dark with age;53 it is frequently adulterated with oil of cumin. ”

“ The seeds of another species—F. panmorium—grown in Bengal, have a warmish, very sweet taste and aromatic smell, and are used in making betel, in curries, and also used as a carminative. Fennel seeds resemble aniseeds in appearance and taste, and are often sold for such; they are a little longer and of a light brown color. The Indian seeds are the largest, the Italian and Japanese the smallest. They are used in confectionery, cookery and are sometimes chewed by the people of France and Germany. Fennel water is made from the oil obtained from the seeds. ”

“ The plant grows from 1 ft. to 6 ft. high and is fairly well branched; the flowers are white or greenish-white; the fruits of the several species are of various forms, round, oblong, cordate or horned, and contain a number of flattish seeds. The seeds after the removal of the pericarp, and then thoroly washed and dried, are entirely devoid of acidity and pungency. The hotter and drier the soil, the more acrid and pungent the fruit.
Used in moderate quantities, capsicum or cayenne pepper, promotes digestion and so prevents flatulence. ”

“ Such blossoms as can be reached are plucked by hand, while those that grow on the upper branches are beaten down with bamboo poles and caught in clothes spread beneath the trees. They are then dried in the shade or by hanging on hurdles over slow wood fires—they lose about half their weight in the drying process. They are usually finished off in the sun, which gives them a darker color. ”

“ He selects a slip suitable for the outer layer, about 3 ft. long, and packs within it 6 or 8 other pieces, all about the thickness of vellum paper—a mark which always distinguishes Ceylon cinnamon from cassia. They are then rolled up together and exposed to the sun to dry. It now resembles a tight roll of paper, the best quality being firm and compact, of a golden yellow color, smooth on both outer and inner surfaces. The cheaper grades are not so carefully made, having many short pieces in the pipes or quills and not so much attention is paid to obtain uniform size and color. ”

“ Siam white are berries prepared in the same manner as Singapore white, from berries grown in Siam.
The dried black peppers, as imported, are also decorticated or deprived of their husks by machinery, the result being white pepper, which is sometimes bleached. ”

“ Aniseed is an annual plant of the order of Umbelliferae of the parsley family, a native of Egypt, but also extensively cultivated in Russia, Germany, Malta and Spain. Aniseed is very similar in appearance to the poisonous hemlock seed, for which it has sometimes been mistaken. The seed, which is a little larger than a pin’s head, is of a greyish-green color. ”