We all know which are the world’s most expensive spices when comes to price per weigh, those are saffron, followed by vanilla. But can you guess which spice comes third? Surprisingly or not, it is cardamom.
One of the world’s most ancient spices transcends above most spices because of its wide usage. Its culinary usage ranges from sweet and savoury dishes to cold and warm beverages.
The history of cardamom dates back at least 4000 years and as with a lot of spices in those times, it was mainly prized for its medical qualities.
The Greeks and Romans used cardamom spice for perfumes, ointments and essential oils and the spice had its role in most religious offerings as well.
The Vikings discovered the spice, whilst on their travels in Constantinople, a millennium ago and introduced it to Scandinavia where it is today a main ingredient of the traditional for the region Glögg (Christmas mulled wine).
During the 3rd A.D, in Alexandria, cardamom was listed among the Indian spices liable for duty, with India keeping its role as the world’s biggest cardamom exported until the late 20th century when was replaced by Guatemala, where the German coffee planter Oscar Majus Kloeffer introduced the Indian cardamom cultivation in the 1920s.
The word cardamom comes from the Middle English derivative of the two early Greek words used to name the two main varieties of the spice common to the Greeks – kardamon (cress) and amōmon (spice plant), which later became simply kardamōmon.
The two main varieties are: Elettaria, also known as true cardamom, which pods are light green and is popular from India to Malaysia; and Amomum which pods are larger and dark brown and which is mainly used in Asia and Australia. From there we get the common names of simply green and black cardamom.
The use of cardamom as a digestive aim has grown tremendously since the early 1800s, but its stomach discomfort relieving abilities were known long before, as the first written record from a British source indicates. Our word first appeared in print in John Trevisa’s translation of the early encyclopaedia De Proprietatibus Rerum (On the Properties of Things): “Cardamom helps ease wambling and irritation of the stomach.”
Cardamom is used for a variety of dishes from main courses and soups such as rice and curry, to drinks like chai and tee, and the combination of cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, fennel and star anise is typical for many Christmas treats from Lebkuchen to Glühwein.
