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Cardamom

Elettaria cardamomum
Elettaria cardamomum
Did you know that… ?
  1. …in the Orient, cardamom is used in coffee and tea?
  2. …cardamom, after saffron and vanilla is the third most expensive spice in the world?
  3. …the enzymes in cardamom help alleviate the effects of a hangover?
  4. …cardamom cleans the blood and reduces blood pressure?
  5. …cardamom is used as an additive in tobacco to add aroma and flavor?
  6. …cardamom fruit is opened shortly before use and only then can the seeds be ground?
  7. …ground cardamom is an essential ingredient in Indian curry?
  8. …cardamom has a pleasant lemon-camphor scent and bitter, burning flavor?
  9. …cardamom as a spice is seeds of the herb Elettaria cardamomum and is used dried, whole or ground?
Cardamom
Recipe

Fruit salad with cardamom

2 tablespoon sugar
125 ml orange juice
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
2 oranges, 1 apple, 1 pear, 2 plums, 2 bananas
various types of soft fruit for decoration (grapes, cherries, blueberries and raspberries)
fresh mint leaves for decoration

In a pot, boil water, add sugar and stir until dissolved. Allow syrup to cool, then stir in orange juice and ground cardamom. Section or slice oranges. Cube apple, pear and plums, slice banana. In a glass bowl, mix fruit, pour in syrup with cardamom and allow to cool in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Serve decorated with fruit and mint leaves.
 

Story

This ancient spice, first used in old Egypt, was well known to Greeks and Romans. In Arabic countries it still today has a reputation for enhancing a male's sexual appetite. African and Indian natives add cardamom to a ball of betel leaves for chewing, along with Areca palm nuts, cloves and bits of lime. Betel is a narcotic and serves the same purpose as smoking. Chewing betel makes their mouths and saliva bright red, as if they were bleeding.