Cardamom and clove, in small doses
Clove's sharp, warm smell comes mostly from eugenol, strong enough to leave your tongue slightly numb. Cardamom's aroma sits in the small black seeds inside each green pod. Both overpower a dish fast, so use a few for a whole pot.
Whole spices are easier to control
Whole pods keep their oils sealed until you crack them. Crush a pod lightly, drop it into rice or tea, and fish it out before serving. Stud an onion with a few whole cloves for stock and lift it out at the end. Ground clove goes in by the pinch.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
Which compound gives cloves their sharp, warm smell?
Eugenol. Eugenol makes up most of clove's smell and is very potent.
True or false: Ground cardamom keeps its aroma as long as whole pods do.
False. Grinding exposes the seeds' oils to air, so ground cardamom loses its aroma faster than whole pods.
Fill the blank: A pot of stew needs only a few whole cloves, because eugenol is so ___.
A pot of stew needs only a few whole cloves, because eugenol is so strong. A small amount of eugenol flavors a whole pot.
What went wrong? You double the cloves in a gingerbread recipe, thinking more is better. The cookies taste medicinal.
Double the eugenol overpowered the other spices. Clove is potent, and a double dose drowns out the ginger and cinnamon.
You want cardamom flavor in chai without crunchy bits in the cup. What do you do?
Crack the pods, simmer them in the milk, then strain. The milk picks up the flavor, and straining removes the pods.