Nutmeg

Nutmeg: History and Complete Culinary Guide

Nutmeg is the seed kernel of Myristica fragrans, a tree native to the Banda Islands of eastern Indonesia — the same tree whose aril produces mace. The Banda Islands were the only source of both spices in the world for centuries, making them among the most fought-over patches of land in history. The Dutch East India Company's brutal monopoly control of the Bandas in the seventeenth century — including the massacre of the native Bandanese population — was among the most violent episodes of early colonial commerce, all in service of controlling nutmeg and mace supply to Europe. A famous diplomatic trade eventually exchanged Manhattan (New Amsterdam) for Run Island (a Banda nutmeg island) between the Dutch and English — a transaction that seemed to favour the Dutch at the time. Nutmeg has a warm, sweet, spicy, slightly bittersweet flavour from myristicin, elemicin, and saffrole — compounds that are hallucinogenic in very high doses, a fact of limited culinary relevance since the quantities used in cooking are a tiny fraction of a toxic dose.

Culinary Uses

Always grate nutmeg freshly — pre-ground nutmeg loses its volatile aromatics within weeks. A small Microplane grater or a dedicated nutmeg grater are ideal. Essential in béchamel (always add a pinch — this is non-negotiable in classical cooking), in spinach preparations, in potato gratin, in bread sauce, in rice pudding and custard, in Christmas cake and mince pies, in mulled wine. Add a tiny grating to pasta with cream sauce, to scrambled eggs, and to tomato soup. Pair with mace, cinnamon, and cloves in warm spice blends. Use in Indian garam masala. The rule with nutmeg is restraint — it should be present but not identifiable.