Ground (self) Allspice/Pimento

[Ken_Griffiths]

Taken from the Huffington Post Website...

Allspice is one of those ubiquitous things you probably know of but don’t really know about.

Most kitchens have it in the spice rack, and if you take the top off, it’ll smell a little like cloves mixed with cinnamon, nutmeg, juniper berries and pepper. The thing is, it’s none of those things, and it’s definitely not a mixture of any of them — allspice is a fruit picked before it’s ripe from a tree (the flowering tropical evergreen Pimenta dioica), dried and either sold as whole “berries” or ground up. It takes about 5,700 berries to make a pound of ground allspice.

As a berry, it looks like a large peppercorn, and in fact Columbus (being the great guesstimator that he was) incorrectly assumed the allspice that he “discovered” in 1494 was pepper and brought it back to Spain, the only country then to import allspice.

For centuries, Spaniards called allspice “pimiento,” or pepper, and it’s sometimes still referred to as Jamaican pepper today. Also, for hundreds of years, sailors used allspice berries to preserve meat onboard their ships; Mayans used it to embalm their leaders; the Arawak Indians of the Caribbeean used it to cure meats (what they would call boucan), and the pirates of the day were eventually called “boucaniers,” which eventually became "buccaneers."

Perhaps, most appropriate to its name, allspice is used to flavour a variety of foods — pickling mixes, relishes, applesauce, ketchup, sausages and Swedish meatballs. It was also used to salt beef, cure fish, flavor gravies, fruit cakes, cookies, plum puddings and preserves.

“Because the volatile oils in allspice dissipate readily,” the author Ernest Small writes, “whole berries will keep for up to 2 years in a cool, dark place, whereas ground allspice should be used within 6 months.”

[Ken_Griffiths]

Although its name erroneously suggests, allspice is not a mixture or blend of several different spices. It is in fact the dried berries of the "Pimenta dioica" tree, which are available to us in the whole berry form or as a ground powder. The berries are a reddish brown colour after drying and are slightly larger than peppercorns.

Allspice is extremely popular in Caribbean cooking due to the fact that it is native to this part of the world. It is probably the most important spice employed in Caribbean cuisine and is predominantly used to flavour hot and fiery marinades and rubs for meat and poultry such as in the well-known "jerk" seasoning mixture.

In other parts of the world allspice is often neglected or left at the back of the cupboard, although it is favoured in the UK where it is used in pickling mixtures, preserves and in a variety of cake, biscuit and sweet pudding recipes. As it has a slight peppery overtone to its flavour, it is often added to stews, curries or soups.

Allspice was originally native to the tropical forests of South and Central America and the West Indies, particularly Jamaica.

During one of his discovery voyages to the Caribbean, Christopher Columbus stumbled upon allspice quite by accident, as he was actually searching for black pepper.

Coming across the dark brown allspice berries, Columbus assumed that they were peppercorns and he took them back with him to Europe, after naming them "pimienta", which is the Spanish word for the pepper spice.

Today, allspice is often referred to as "pimienta de Jamaica" in Spanish or Jamaica pepper in English, as well as other names such as myrtle pepper and pimento.

Jamaica is the world's largest producer of allspice today and the climate there gives rise to the best quality allspice in the world.

Other producers are Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, although the quality is not as good as the Jamaica pepper.

Allspice was given the name that we know it as today some time during the late seventeenth century due to the fact that it has a taste and aroma similar to several spices all rolled into one - cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and black Pepper.

As allspice is more commonly sold as a ground powder, many people assume that it is a mixture of the above spices, when actually it is not.

Allspice has been used in traditional folklore medicine for several hundreds of years primarily as a digestive.

When added to foods that are difficult to digest, such as proteins and fats or foods that may cause bloating and flatulence, such as cauliflower, cabbage and beans, allspice can aid digestion and relieve any discomfort that is associated with indigestion.

Medical research has found that allspice has similar properties to cloves. It has a high eugenol content meaning that it is highly bacterial and it also has mild anaesthetic properties.

Perhaps more importantly, allspice has proved to be very beneficial in the treatment of arthritic and rheumatic pains and other muscular and joint problems. This is because it acts as a rubefacient, which is a substance that when applied to an affected area draws out the inflammation and increases the blood supply to it, giving a warming and calming effect.

Allspice is also known to settle the nervous system, which can be helpful for stress and anxiety amongst other symptoms.

It is preferable to buy allspice in the whole berry form, as once the berries are harvested they do tend to lose their flavour and aroma quite quickly.

You can grind the berries as you need them by placing them into a pepper mill or coffee grinder or by using a pestle and mortar.

The whole berries will keep indefinitely if stored in an airtight glass jar out of the sunlight. The ground powder, on the other hand, will only keep for a few months.

Allspice is famous for being the main ingredient of the Caribbean "jerk" seasoning, a marinade mixture, which is used to flavour meats and poultry, especially pork and chicken. The meat is marinated in the spicy seasoning and then cooked over an open fire, where allspice branches are used for the firewood.

Other ways in which allspice is used in different types of cuisines are:
* In Caribbean soups, stews and curries.
* In pickling mixtures.
* In chutneys, jams, pickles, preserves and marinades.
* In mulled wine and other type of hot punch or beverage.
* In cakes and biscuits.
* In milk puddings and desserts.
* In fruit pies, crumbles, compotes and sauces.
* In bean soups or pulse dishes.
* In sausage mixture and meat pies or pasties.
* In meat rubs and marinades.
* In pâtés and terrines.
* In ice creams and alcoholic liqueurs.
* In flavouring chocolate or hot chocolate.

Jerk chicken (example recipe)
Chicken portions are marinated overnight in a hot and spicy mixture of herbs, spices, onions, chillies and garlic and then cooked over the hot coals of a barbeque or open fire for the Caribbean version.

Ingredients
* 4 portions of chicken
* 3 chopped spring onions
* 2 Scotch Bonnet chillies, seeded and chopped
* 4 tbsp of white wine vinegar
* 3 tbsp of light soy sauce
* 1 tbsp of whole allspice berries, ground
* 1 chopped clove of garlic
* 2-inch piece of root ginger, peeled and chopped
* 1 tsp of dried thyme
* 1 tsp of black pepper
Method
1. Wash the chicken pieces, pat them dry with kitchen paper and place into a large shallow dish.
2. Place the spring onions, chillies, garlic, ginger, allspice, dried thyme, black pepper, vinegar and soy sauce into a food processor and process until a smooth paste has formed.
3. Pour the mixture over the chicken pieces. Turn the chicken to coat thoroughly and evenly with the marinade mixture.
4. Cover the dish with cling film and transfer to the refrigerator. Leave to marinate overnight or for up to 24 hours.
5. Preheat the barbeque or grill to medium - high and then place the chicken pieces onto the rack and cook for 30 minutes, turning occasionally and basting with the marinade.
6. Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked, transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Another thing I discovered during my research into Allspice...

On the Jamaican government website it says this:

"Now traditionalists may grumble, but fast food places, like KFC and Burger King are massively popular with Jamaicans. Some even joke that Kentucky fried chicken is the new national dish! Yet dabble as they might with foreign fare, Jamaicans are never going to give up their yard food."

I really believe the secret recipe has a strong element of the Jamaican cuisine in its taste. The primary national ingredients of Jamaica are Chilli, Ginger, Garlic and their local Pimento.

One chemical constituent in Allspice is Methyl Eugenol albeit in small quantity and during the late 1960’s through to 2001 there was growing health concerns for this particular flavouring as it was discovered that it gave rise to cancer in mice, when it was administered to them in large quantity over a long period of time. The same chemical is also found in the herb Basil and several other ingredients in the human food chain.

I should add that both Basil and Allspice are both on the GRAS list of products .. GRAS stands for 'Generally Recognised As Safe' for human consumption... there are however many conspiracy-like theorists who claim there has been a 'cover up' about Methyl Eugenol and that behind the scenes, there are guidelines and advice to reduce the annual human consumption (AHC) of ingredients that contain this chemical compound.

Some say that the chemical, Methyl Eugenol, maybe being gradually 'farmed' out of things to reduce human risk. The matter has been investigated by at least one newspaper and there is plenty of material on the internet about this subject, but it appears the authorities that be, like FDA etc. refute many of the concerns raised, though do accept the findings, that it was known to cause cancer in mice, but human consumption of the chemical compound is extremely minuscule by comparison and there is no evidence that it had ever affected the population in this way.

I do wonder if Methyl Eugenol has been reduced and if that has diminished the clove, cinnamon and nutmeg-like flavour of the original recipe, or whether it's the same old story that 'things don't taste as good as they used to' and that I'm simply getting old and the taste/aroma receptors are starting to wane.

I must admit I've eaten my fair share of Basil, both fresh and dried, over the years and so far, so good... fingers-x'd

Ken