The Spices of the Winter Holidays
SEARCY, Ark. — Regardless of how you celebrate end-of-year holidays, food is probably
central to your winter festivities. Some of the most popular spices used this time
of year are harvested from various parts of exotic tropical plants, lending a special
flavor to our holiday recipes.
The spices — cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger are featured in many dishes and drinks and are an unmistakable part of the scent profile we associate with the holiday season.
Growing Holiday Spices
Ginger is harvested from the rhizomes (underground stems) of a tropical/sub-tropical herbaceous plant, Zingiber officinale. Ginger roots take between eight and 10 months to fully mature. The plants can be harvested at any time of year if they are mature and haven’t been exposed to cold or wind.
That timing is important because harvesting ginger means uprooting the whole plant to get to the rhizomes growing underground. Rhizomes function like underground stems, storing nutrients for the plant to help it survive the winter. Once cold weather signals to the plant to dip into its underground supply of nutrients, the quality of the harvested ginger will decline significantly. The rhizomes are harvested after the first year of the plant’s growth. The rhizomes can be washed and used fresh, dried whole or ground, pickled, crystallized or boiled and stored in syrup.
Ginger is native to tropical Asia and grown commercially in Hawaii and in many other countries, including China, India, Thailand and Brazil. It is possible to grow ginger as a houseplant, though our typical home is not the best environment to keep this plant happy, especially in winter. The plant thrives in warm, humid air and well-drained moist soil. Select healthy fresh rhizomes from the market, and look for the small “eyes” or buds to plant eyes facing upward, about 2-3 inches deep. Once the leaves emerge, set the plant near a bright window where it will get at least a half day of direct sun.
Nutmeg comes from grinding seeds of the Myristica fragrans tree, an evergreen that’s native to Indonesia. The trees start flowering in their sixth year, but peak production comes when they are closer to 20 years old.
Workers harvest fruit from the trees, which typically grow to heights of 10 – 30 feet, using long poles to knock the fruits down. For spice production, the fruits then are dried in the sun.
Nutmeg comes from grinding the inner seed kernels; its sister spice, mace, comes from grinding the tissue that envelopes the seeds. Since this plant yields two spices, the long wait for the trees to mature is worthwhile for producers. Nutmeg and mace are both harvested from the fruits of yet another tropical evergreen tree, Myristica fragrans, also native to the Moluccas. These fruits have a fleshy outer husk that splits upon ripening to reveal the seed with a red, leathery covering. Nutmeg is made from the ground seed kernel, while mace is made from the leathery seed cover.
Cinnamon is made from the bark of two trees: Cinnamomum verum for cinnamon sticks, and Cinnamomum cassia for ground cinnamon. The two types have different textures and flavor profiles, but both are made from the outermost layer of the trees’ bark. Production typically starts after a tree is 2 years old.
Peeling bark from cinnamon tree branches is easiest after heavy rainfalls, which soften the bark, so harvests typically happen after monsoon seasons. The same effect can be achieved outside of monsoon season by soaking branches in buckets of water. True cinnamon comes from the bark of the semi-tropical evergreen tree Cinnamomum zeylanicum, native to Ceylon and Southwest India and hardy in the U.S. Gulf states.
For the best quality cinnamon, the bark is cut in strips from two-year-old branches, just as the new foliage leafs out and the bark slips easily from the wood. The bark is then dried and either ground or sold in the curled strips called “quills.” The quills of true cinnamon are light brown and their interior consists of several thin layers.
The cinnamon found in most grocery stores is more likely to be the cassia cinnamon, harvested from the related Cinnamomum cassia. This type of cinnamon has a darker, thicker bark, and its quills are hollow. This form is less expensive, so it is more commonly found and is stronger in flavor than the true cinnamon.
Cloves are native to Maluku and North Maluku, known as the Spice Islands, and are the dried, unopened flowers of the tropical evergreen tree Syzygium aromaticum (sometimes listed as Eugenia caryophyllus). The name clove is derived from the Latin clavus meaning “nail,” as the dried flowers do rather resemble their namesake.
What Makes A Spice ‘Warm’?
Cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg all are widely described as “warm” spices, which probably has less to do with where they come from and more with how they affect our bodies.
In the same way that mint can “taste” cold due to its menthol content, cinnamon’s warm taste is attributed to a compound called cinnamaldehyde, which gives the spice its distinctive taste and smell. This chemical tricks our nervous system when we eat it by triggering the same pathway that perceives warmth, much as capsaicin in peppers triggers feelings of pain.
Cinnamaldehyde also helps decrease blood glucose levels, so enjoying some cinnamon tea after a big Christmas dinner can help stop your blood sugar from spiking. Cinnamon has been used for thousands of years in traditional medicine across Asia for its antibacterial properties and as a digestive aid.
Christopher Columbus’ first voyage west across the Atlantic sought to find a direct route to Asia to purchase cinnamon and other spices directly where they were grown.
Spicing Up Our Health And Digestive Systems
Ginger and nutmeg don’t trick our nervous systems into feeling warm, but they both contain myriad compounds that aid in digestion and can fend off viral and bacterial infections. Ginger is an excellent anti-nausea agent because of a compound called gingerol, which increases gut mobility. This means food doesn’t linger in the gut as long, which cuts down on gas production and keeps us from feeling bloated and sick.
Ginger was first used for food purposes in the Middle Ages as a way of masking the taste of preserved meats, which were mainly consumed in the winter months surrounding holidays. Unlike most spices, it can be used for cooking in many forms – fresh, dried and ground, candied or pickled. Each version offers a different level of ginger’s signature bite.
Like cinnamon, nutmeg is another anti-diabetic. It has been shown to both decrease blood glucose levels and increase serum insulin. Insulin helps regulate how sugars are stored in our bodies by moving glucose out of our bloodstream and into cells, where it can be accessed later when we need an energy boost. So, cinnamon can help ensure that all those holiday baked goods are put to use energetically, whether that’s right now or later.
Nutmeg seeds produce many natural compounds, some of which have the potential to fight pathogenic bacteria. During the 1600s, doctors believed nutmeg could be effective at warding off the bubonic plague, and many people wore it tied around their necks. This belief likely came from nutmeg’s insecticidal qualities, which would have helped keep fleas carrying the plague off people sporting a nutmeg necklace.
The sights and sounds of the winter holidays are distinctive, but nothing is as all-encompassing and nostalgic as the smells and tastes. Understanding how we have evolved traditions surrounding food, and the science behind those foods, can help us further appreciate their role in the season of celebrations.
Source: Texas A & M and Purdue University
By Sherri Sanders
County Extension Agent - Agriculture
The Cooperative Extension Service
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Media Contact: Sherri Sanders
County Extension Agent - Agriculture
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
2400 Old Searcy Landing Road Searcy AR 72143
(501) 268-5394
ssanders@uada.edu
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