Cardamom

Indian woman harvesting cardamom

An Icelandic coffee shop down the street sells great coffee, and lovely buns. I just tasted one; sweet, harsh cardamom filled my mouth. This is not my native flavor: I don't believe my mother or grandmothers were aware of cardamom, the sweet/savory seed pod that grows on big-leafed bushes in the tropics. Despite my mother's adventurous tastes -- tinned pate (fresh pate, or even chopped liver, wasn't available in Kansas back in the day), crème brûlée and exotic reuben sandwiches -- we never had this spice in our kitchen. But my friend Richie's parents celebrated Russian Easter each year, and they served the marvelous cardamom infused Russian bread called Kulich. My first taste of the spice sparked a mix of revulsion and devotion that few other tastes have mimicked. Cardamom is a strange spice, a gad (good and bad) flavor that in the end steals your soul. It's one of the most expensive spices, by weight, but since you use so little, that's not much of a factor.

Cardomam is part of the ginger family. Used all over Scandinavia in breads, and in the Middle East in coffee. Wrigley's even sells it in gum meant to clear "the worst breath." I can see why.  My favorite way to take cardomam is in tea.  I wing it when making chai, putting sticks of cinammon, pungent and sticky vanilla beans, star anise and whatever else feels right, usually including maple syrup, into a pot and steeping it with black tea (preferabley super strong PG Tips, from England). But here's an official recipe from a blog called "Confessions of a Cardomam Addict."  

Masala Chai
Ingredients
180ml milk
180ml water
2 whole cardamom pods
5cm cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
1 star anise
1 thinnish slice fresh ginger
2 whole black peppercorns
2 rounded tsp black tea

Directions
Lightly crush together the cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star anise and peppercorns.

Tip the contents into a small saucepan and add the remaining ingredients (milk, water, ginger and black tea). Bring to a boil and allow to steep to desired strength.

Strain through a very fine mesh seive into a pot or directly in to cups/mugs. Sweeten to taste with honey, sugar or vanilla sugar.

This amount is enough for my favourite mug (about it holds the equivalent of a large Timmy's (medium coffee in the US), but will do for two dainty cups.