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Nutmeg an innocent looking thing with a tempestuous history and a taste made in heaven. Believe me, there really is more to this little gem than meets the eye.

Nutmeg originates from the Moluccas also known as the Spice Islands in the East Indies; until the sixteenth century it was available in Europe thanks to Arab traders but when the celebrated explorer Vasco da Gama claimed the islands for Portugal things started to change. Nutmeg had become a highly prized and valuable commodity in Europe and many sought to get in on the act. With this in mind and wanting to protect their precious crop, the Portuguese limited the nutmeg trees to just two islands although natural factors such as birds transferring the seeds could not be regulated. Eventually a French adventurer succeeded in smuggling nutmeg seeds to Mauritius and started to produce the crop there.

Near the end of the eighteenth century the British gained power of the Moluccas and continued nutmeg production but they also started growing the crop in the West Indies to this day nutmeg is an important crop in the West Indies the island nation of Grenada even has a small nutmeg on its national flag.

When I think of nutmeg I think mostly of sweet dishes spice cakes, custards, milky puddings and, indeed, many of these dishes date back from the time that nutmeg was in such high demand. It makes me think of Tudor banquets, of men in hose and women in huge dresses. Nutmeg was a spice for the rich because the long distances it had to come made it expensive. It is said that if a merchant sent three ships to the East Indies to bring back nutmeg and only one returned, the profit from that one remaining ship would compensate for the loss of the other two we should remember that the high seas were a dangerous place in those days with plenty of pirates more than willing to take over a lucrative spice ship.

For those who could not afford nutmeg and for those people who wanted to follow the fashion it was possible to buy carved wooden nutmegs to wear on one's person sometimes decoratively, sometimes hidden. It was believed that if one tucked a nutmeg in their armpit it would bring them romantic admirers. To nutmeg were attributed myriad powers protection against rheumatism, a cure for boils, a remedy to mend broken bones

These days spice experts do mot make such bold claims but nutmeg is said to have some medicinal properties it may reduce flatulence and be of help generally with nausea, vomiting and digestive problems.

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