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Article: Getting the Whole Spicy Story; Freshly Ground Nutmeg Makes All the Difference
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- April 4, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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"Anyone who has tasted this spice no longer desires others,"
wrote the French gastronome Curnonsky about nutmeg. Hyperbole,
perhaps, but it does serve to point out the high esteem in which this
musk-scented nut has been held since the Middle Ages. Chaucer, for
example, extolled nutmeg as a flavoring for ale.
The Portuguese-the first Europeans to market the spice-published
intentionally erroneous navigation charts to keep secret the location
of the Molucca Islands, where the nutmeg grew. However, this did not
prevent the Dutch from seizing the islands in 1602, after which they
promptly imposed the death penalty on anyone caught smuggling the
seeds of the precious nutmeg tree.
The spice ...