Allspice

Illustration of Allspice twig, flowers, and fruits

        Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could get an ice cream that would taste like chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla all at the same time? Unfortunately there is no such ice cream, but there is a spice that tastes like cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg all mixed up! It should be easy for you to understand then why it is called allspice. Other names for allspice are pimento and Jamaica pepper. The name 'pimento' which comes from the Spanish word for pepper, was given to allspice by the early explorers of the New World because its berries resemble peppercorns.

       Allspice is the dried unripe berry of a tree closely related to the clove tree. Both allspice and cloves are members of the myrtle family. The allspice tree is an evergreen that stands twenty to thirty feet high and has large leathery leaves, clusters of numerous white flowers, and purple fruits. It is the only common spice found growing wild in the New World, where it is native to the West Indies. It is found in greatest numbers in Jamaica, which has an almost complete monopoly of the allspice industry and exports about five million pounds of allspice a year. Smaller amounts are produced by Mexico and Guatemala.

       Allspice is seldom cultivated, however, and it is found at its best growing six thousand feet above the sea close to the coastline. Because the seeds are scattered by birds, allspice trees are found in many parts of Jamaica, sometimes in small groups of about thirty trees and sometimes in great forests. Allspice, which is the most common tree on the island, is seldom found growing singly.

       The ripe berries lose most of their spicy flavor, and so allspice is gathered when the berries are full-sized but still green. In August, when the berries are full grown but not yet ripe, they are picked. The harvesting is done by hand. The twigs and stems that bear the fruit are broken off and these are placed on mats on a raised wooden terrace to dry in the sunshine from seven to twelve days. Great care must be taken to make sure that the berries are fully exposed to the sun because moisture would destroy their quality. For this reason planters sometimes dry the berries in kilns or ovens. As the berries dry, they become wrinkled and reddish brown and their aroma gets stronger and more noticeable.

       The picker who removes the berries from the trees keeps three people, who are usually women and children, busy gathering them up. The gatherers carefully separate, as far as possible, all the ripe berries from the green ones. Otherwise the crop would be considered poor.

       Allspice trees grow slowly. They begin to bear fruit when they are about seven years old and continue to bear for about twelve years. Each tree will produce an average crop of twenty-five to one hundred pounds of the spice.

       Allspice is very popular for flavoring sauces, pickles, sausages, and soups. It is often used to disguise the bad taste of medicines and sometimes it is used in tanning certain kinds of leather. An oil from allspice is used in making perfumes. Young allspice trees are highly valued for walking canes and umbrella sticks. At one time these canes were exported from Jamaica in such large numbers that the allspice industry was seriously threatened.

All About Allspice from Glen and Friends Cooking