A Harmony Of Flavors Published “Cardamom, An Ancient Spice of India”

Feb. 25, 2013 - PRLog -- Chris Rawstern, Culinary Advisor for A Harmony of Flavors, published the article “Cardamom, An Ancient Spice of India”.

This article is part of A Harmony of Flavors mission to publish pertinent articles to help bring people’s attention to important issues or problems and hopefully offer some form of education for them to make the best decisions. This Article describes that Cardamom is an ancient spice, existing in India more than a thousand years before the birth of Christ.  It is the third most expensive spice, after saffron and vanilla.  The spice eventually reached Europe along the caravan routes.  Ancient Greece and Rome valued cardamom as an ingredient in perfumes, as well as breath fresheners and digestive aids.  These days, outside of the Eastern and Middle-Eastern countries where it is most known, the Scandinavian countries are the biggest importers of cardamom, using it to flavor their spiced cakes, pastries and breads.

Green cardamom pods come from a perennial bush of the ginger family that can grow to up to 12 feet tall.  It is native to India, and grows wild in rainforests of southern India and Sri Lanka, at relatively low altitudes. The plant will only flower and fruit in tropical climates. Guatemala is now the largest exporter of cardamom, even more so than India. The plant needs wet soil and heat to grow and bear the little fruits, harvested just before fully ripe and dried, either in the sun, similarly to coffee, or in special drying rooms.  The very best dried cardamom pods are pale greenish in color.  Each paperlike pod holds approximately 12 to 20 dark brown or black highly aromatic seeds. It is best to buy either whole pods or whole seeds that have been removed from the pod. Pre ground cardamom loses its flavor too easily. Also, the pods themselves have little flavor and commercially it is too easy to grind the whole pod together, thus lowering the price and the quality of the ground spice. Grinding the seeds is simple in a mortar and pestle or a small spice grinder, and one is assured of the quality of the product. Many dishes in India call for whole, unbroken or only slightly crushed pods to be used.

Anyone who has eaten Indian cuisine, or cooked Indian dishes, knows well how often cardamom is an ingredient.  It is almost always used in a Garam Masala mixture, often seen as an ingredient in Northern Indian dishes such as rice Biryani, creamed spinach and dhal. There are almost as many variations of Garam Masala as there are households in India. A very simple mixture, and easy to remember is to use whole spices in equal parts of cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, cloves, bay leaf and black pepper. My most often used recipe for Garam Masala is this one below.  

Rawstern is an author, teacher, gourmet cook as well as a photographer and graphic artist.  She has taken or created all images appearing on these sites. Her articles have been syndicated nationally.

Her background is Slovakian on her mother's side and Yugoslavian on her father's. Her grandparents came from Europe to the United States to make a better life for themselves and their families. Her ethnic cooking influences began at the cradle. She began her cooking career in Guatemala, in 1970 when she moved there as a 20-year-old newlywed, and set out to learn to cook in a foreign land. This process was complicated by the fact that she could not speak or read the language.

Rawstern loves food, new recipes, and to teach people how to cook from scratch. Her passion is to teach people how to create A Harmony of Flavors when they cook, find joy in baking and help pass along her love of and joy in foods, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy, as she continues her journey in both ethnic cooking and domestic. Her favorite saying in her class is “Life is short – eat dessert first”.

About the Author

My name is Chris Rawstern and I have been on a cooking and baking journey for 42 years. I love food. I love to cook, and teach people how to cook, from scratch.  I love baking.  I love to create new recipes and try them.  I hope to inspire you to follow me!

I would love to hear from you, to help me continue my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of collecting favored recipes of your own.  Visit me at my Web site (http://www.aharmonyofflavors.com/) my Blog or Marketplace (http://www.a-harmony-of-flavors-marketplace.com/).  Email me at chris@aharmonyofflavors.com.