Herbal Gifts, Part,Three: Spices and Make Ahead Delights
Whiffs of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and allspice come from the kitchen as I build our collection of gifts and delicious welcoming treats. There is mulled cider on the stove (might as well treat ourselves while we're at it!), and a jar full of mulling spice sachets waiting to become presents. There are deep red jars of cranberry sauce more delicious than any store bought version. Some of those will be opened for our own feasts, and some will travel with us to friends' homes. I've just blended our pumpkin pie spice with a couple of "secret" ingredients, ready for a baking frenzy later in the week.
I grew up associating the smell of these spices with winter holiday foods. When I was a kid, I dreamed up a personality that went with each spice: cinnamon was a lively young chap, rather like Robin Hood. Cloves carried knightly swords that matched their shape and strength. Nutmeg was a she with a bit of mystery about her, waiting for me in a dream grove. Allspice lived on a forested mountain which I would someday run away to and invite my parents to come for fireside feasts of wild game, nuts and berries.
Later in life, I learned the history of these spices and the mystery grew rather than dissipating. The Silk Road and the Spice Trade became part of my personal mythology. Men on many-masted ships died bringing these fragrant treasures of the East to Europe. The tradition of including an orange in a Christmas stocking began centuries ago when oranges weren't yet grown in Europe. Cinnamon was once worth more by weight than gold.
I can not grow a cinnamon or cassia tree in my New York garden, nor harvest the buds of clove flowers for drying. I am willing to pay for these as my ancestors were. What is more familiar than the smell of cinnamon sprinkled on top of a pie? Yet what is more exotic than imagining the lands where this cinnamon grew and the long road it took to reach my kitchen shelf?
Mulling Spices
1 tablespoon dried orange peel bits
9 whole allspice or spice bush berries
10 whole cloves
1/2 of a star anise (optional)
1 cardamom pod (optional)
2 small sticks cinnamon, crushed into small pieces
Place all of the above ingredients onto a square of cheesecloth. Fold up ends loosely (leaving a little space for the wine or cider to flow around between the spices). Tie into a bundle with kitchen string or unwaxed dental floss. Trim ends of string.
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