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 Cloves
Caryophyllus aromaticus, Syzygium aromaticum, Eugenia caryophyllata Aromatic spice, or more ?What are Cloves? Cloves are the dried, unopened flower buds
of Syzygium aromaticum
(formerly Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb). The word clove comes from the French clou, or nail, which describes its shape. The bud is composed of two parts: the stem and a bulbous head. For sale as whole cloves, it is most desirable for the buds to be intact, that is, heads and stems attached, but this is not as important when they are to be ground. Cloves are known to have antisceptic properties and their smell is often associated with the dentist. Their use as a preservative in pickles and spiced dishes is well documented. At the time of the early Chinese civilisation commoners chewed Cloves to sweeten their breath before talking to the emperor. The chinese also used Cloves as a mild anaesthetic for toothache.Plant Profile
 The
clove tree is grown in many countries — Tanzania, Brazil, Sri Lanka,
Indonesia and in the West Indies — which is a good thing, since it
takes five to seven THOUSAND of the little flower buds to make just one
pound of dried cloves. Prized in Europe since its arrival in the 4th
century A.D., clove has traditionally been recommended for digestion.
Contemporary herbalists most often suggest cloves for this or to
maintain good circulation.
What are Cloves? Cloves are the dried, unopened flower buds
of Syzygium aromaticum
(formerly Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb). The word clove comes from the French clou, or nail, which describes its shape. The bud is composed of two parts: the stem and a bulbous head. For sale as whole cloves, it is most desirable for the buds to be intact, that is, heads and stems attached, but this is not as important when they are to be ground. To obtain the spice, the buds must he picked when the heads develop a pink caste, or just before they open. If they are allowed to flower they have no value as a spice. In most areas there are two crops a year - one in late summer and early fall, the other late fall through the first of the year. It is the nature of the clove tree to vary its yield from bumper crops to lighter ones in cycles which range from two to six years. In volume, a mature tree may produce from seven to 40 pounds in one harvest. At picking, the buds are fairly uniform in color, but as they dry the stems turn very dark brown and the heads become light tan in color. It takes between 4,000 and 7 000 buds to make a pound of dried cloves. During the drying they lose two-thirds of their harvested weight. The Major Types of ClovesCloves are produced in many parts of the world, from their native Indonesia to several countries of the Indian Ocean, to Latin America. However, most of our imports today are from the Madagascar area (including the Comores) and Brazil; Tanzania (Zanzibar) was a major source, but in recent years their production has declined and their exports have been going mostly to Indonesia. The U.S. also imports what are called "hand-picked" cloves from Penang and Ceylon. This trade term does not refer to harvesting but rather to the hand selecting of dried cloves to get the biggest, best looking specimens. These are used in fancy retail packs. or where a food manufacturer is using cloves to make an impressive garnish. Indonesia is still a major producer, but it is also the largest customer for cloves, because of its national penchant for clove flavored cigarettes. Called kreteks (because they crackle when lighted), these cigarettes are two parts tobacco and one part cloves. Production now amounts to about 36 billion cigarettes a year, requiring approximately half of the world production of cloves. This cigarette phenomenon dictates today's prices for cloves. For grinding purposes, there are no significant differences between cloves from the Madagascar area and those of Brazil. Volatile oil content is the essential quality factor in cloves and both areas consistently supply product, which meets or exceeds 15 percent volatile oi1. Thus, origin specifications have become obsolete in clove buying. Instead, the customer specifies volatile oi1 percentage and various other analytical measurements, and the spice company meets the specs from whichever source is currently available. In addition to whole and ground cloves, substantial quantities of clove oil are used in the U.S. -some in food products, but heavily in perfumes, cosmetics, medicines, mouthwashes and toothpastes. Dentists still use clove oil as a mild anesthetizer. Clove oil products are distilled from the stems alone and the leaves as well as the buds. The leaves yield roughly two percent. The stems alone about four to six percent and the buds alone approximately 16 per. cent. The bud oil is the premium product, used as a food flavoring and seasoning blend ingredient and in high quality perfumes. Stem oil, while it has a bud-type flavor, is principally used as a less expensive replacement for the bud oil. Leaf oil is not ordinarily used in its crude form, but is further processed to isolate its eugenol and eugenol derivatives. Buying and Using ClovesCloves are the strongest of all the aromatic spices. As a result, they are used at fairly low levels, but in an extremely wide range of products. In the U.S., their most visible roles are in baked ham and certain sweet pickles. However, they have an important supporting function in countless spicing and seasoning combinations for sweet baked goods, sausages, luncheon meats and spreads, soups, salad dressings, relishes and casserole-type preparations. from baked beans to pot roast. How to Handle ClovesGround cloves should be stored in a cool, dry place. Excessive heat will volatilize and dissipate the aromatic essential oils, and high humidity will produce caking. Containers should be dated when they arrive, so that older stock will be used first, and then stored off the floor and away from outside walls to minimize the chance of dampness. Make it a hard and fast rule that all spice containers be tightly closed after each use, because prolonged exposure to the air can also cause some loss of flavor and aroma. Under good storage conditions, the qualities of aroma and flavor for which cloves are prized will be retained long enough to meet any normal requirements of food manufacturing. CLOVES (Syzygium aromaticum) Probably the most fragrant fire in the history of the world was lighted in the forests of the Dutch East Indies (actually, the Moluccas Islands) in 1816. Its fumes could be detected for hundreds of miles. Yet, its side effects were even more astounding. After consuming thousands of trees, it started a tragic native insurrection and actually changed the whole climate of the islands. All of the remarkable aspects of this fire were due to a single fact: The trees bore the spice we call cloves. The story really began centuries before the fire, when man first discovered the magical flavor proper-ties of cloves. No one knows exactly when it happened. but records show this spice was already important to thc Chinese thousands of years before Christ. In the Han period, 220-206 B. C., it was required that all court officials hold some whole cloves in their mouths when addressing the Emperor-just to make sure their breaths were clean. As time went on, cloves became one of the most prized of all spices to the western world. In England, for instance, before the discovery of the sea passage around the Cape of Good Hope, cloves cost the consumer 36O times more than their price in the oriental lands which grew them. Cloves were thus one of the treasures which Columbus and Magellan and other explorers sought in the Age of Discovery. The great East Indies fire was another of man's attempts to profit from the lucrative clove trade. Burning off young trees was the Dutch way of regulating supply and keeping prices high. But the natives of that area believed that the lives of their children were linked to the lives of the new trees they planted at the time of a birth. The fire of l816 destroyed an unprecedented number of young "birth trees" and the outraged natives could stand it no more. They revolted in a bloody insurrection led by Pattimura, "the George Washington of the Moluccas" and even today remembered as one of Indonesia's heroes. The destruction of the clove trees had another effect: The climate 0f the Moluccas changed. They became so unhealthy that Dutch garrisons had to be relieved every six months. The answer, according to chroniclers of the times, was that the clove trees had given off such strong aroma that they had always mitigated the harmful effects of fumes from nearby volcanoes. When the number of trees was reduced so substantially, the remainder could no longer combat the vapors from within the earth. The Kidnapping of ClovesThough the fire proved a disaster for the Dutch, it was an event some 40 years prior that triggered the loss of their clove monopoly. In the 1770's the ambitious governor of the French island of Mauritius - a M –Poivre - sent an expedition to the Moluccas which succeeded in spiriting away some clove seeds and seedlings. Up to that time, botanists had been very sure that cloves would grow only in the Moluccas. But they were wrong. The clove tree is happy on any mountainous tropical island, where, as the saying goes, "it can see the sea." Mauritius was such an island. From this original planting, seeds were sent to French islands in the Caribbean, as well as to Reunion, Madagascar and Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. Gradually, the islands off Africa, particularly Zanzibar and Madagascar became the world's main sources of this spice.
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