Herb. No. 122 · Myristicaceae
Banda Islands evergreen. Nutmeg and mace are still a tropical farm crop.
Native · Southeast Asia
Native Also grown
LegalCautionplant
Nutmeg
Myristica fragrans
One fruit, two spices — the brown seed and the lacy red mace — a kitchen warm with a hard stop at the teaspoon.
Nutmeg is the seed; mace is the crimson aril around it. Both come from a Banda Islands evergreen. Culinary grating in béchamel, chai, and pumpkin is food. A tablespoon of ground nutmeg is a deliriant that has sent teenagers to the clinic for a miserable, long night. This plate is the grater, not an experiment.
Flavor
Warm, woody, a little camphor and pine. Mace is brighter, more citrus-floral; nutmeg is deeper.
Parts used
Seed · Aril (mace)
Helpful
- A whole seed keeps for years
- Two spices from one fruit
Cautions
- Toxic in ‘recreational’ amounts
- Not a temperate tree