CARDAMOM
By Ann Wilder

Ann Wilder is founder, President, and CEO of VANNS Spices.  She is an international authority on the quality and blending of spices and herbs.            

        Because the American cuisine has been based on Northern European cuisine for the last 200 years, our experience of cardamom is limited to Scandinavian baked goods, Scandinavian sweet drinks, or its occasional use with fruit.   Some of you may know cardamom because of its judicious use in sausages and German charcuterie.  This limited use is not true for most of the world.  From Southeast Asia through most of Africa, cardamom is used in copious quantities.  Three quarters of the world's finest cardamom is used in the middle east.  It is used in curries, pilafs, soups, stews, desserts, and drinks.

        Cardamom is one of the most ancient and highly valued spices.  Asians were using cardamom 2000 years ago to sweeten their breath.  It is still used to freshen breath in many parts of the world.  Vikings bought cardamom from Arab traders in Constantinople more than a 1000 years ago.

        Cardamom, a member of the ginger family, grows wild in India and Sri Lanka, on a tall bushy plant in the under story of moist tropical forests from 2500 to 5000 feet above sea level.  The pod, about the size of a cranberry, appears after the plant flowers.  One problem with harvesting cardamom is that the pods do not all ripen at one time.  They ripen over a 3 to 5 month period and each bush must be picked once a week during that period.  Pods are harvested when the pod has grown as large as it can without splitting and is close to bursting with dark aromatic seeds.  Cardamom thrives in the heat of the equator and is now cultivated throughout the world in tropical, mountainous climates.  Guatemala has the perfect terrain and grows the finest cardamom in the world.  There plants grow up to 15 feet tall.  In India and Sri Lanka 5 to 8 feet is the usual norm.

        This strong, sharply lemony, distinctly exotic, flavored spice enhances savory dishes and mellows them.  In curries it seems often to be the backbone.  Without cardamom they seem flat.  This is especially true of meat curries.

        There are two basic types of cardamom, green and black.  White cardamom, which is preferred by some, is only green cardamom which has been bleached.  The flavor is in the tiny black seeds within the seed pod.   The husk has little flavor but does contain a mild perfume with a lovely floral scent.  Ground cardamom may be purchased with or without the husk.  Cardamom without the husk is stronger but very expensive.  A Warning:  cardamom losses one half of its flavor within one week of its being ground.  The black seeds are available without the husk at a price.  Ask for decorticated cardamom.

        Black cardamom is not a true cardamom but a close relative.  It is used mainly in Africa.  It has a large hairy pod.   The flavor is warming, camphorous and intensely peppery with a pleasant smokiness.   Originally it was grown as a cheaper substitute for green cardamom.  Now it has a following of its own.

        No one uses as much cardamom as the Arabs.   Three quarters of the world's supply goes to the Arabs who not only use it in goat stews and other meat dishes, but also to make a drink called "gawah," an intense dark roasted coffee mixed with huge amounts of cardamom.  An alternate method they use is to put a crushed cardamom seed in their coffee.

        Cardamom is the third most expensive ingredient, after saffron and vanilla.  The reason for its expense is the same as the reason vanilla and saffron are expensive.  All three need intensive hand labor for harvesting the product.  The good news is that, in spite of the expense, a little goes a long way.  A  few dollars worth of cardamom pods can keep the average cook in spice for a year if stored in a cool dry place.