Mace - light ground - West Indies

SHORT DESCRIPTION
Do you know the nutmeg seed coat? It's the mace or mace flower. It's a very fragile, reticulated structure. This intensely flavorful, yellow to slightly reddish, refined tropical spice is one of the finest and most expensive spices in the world. With just a tiny amount, you can add an intense, exotic flavor to sweet and savory dishes.

USE
STAY SPICED! Mace is a true all-rounder: It lends a special elegance to both sweet and savory dishes. Its uses range from clear and light thickened soups and light sauces to fish dishes, rice dishes, stews, pâtés, and light vegetable purees, to creams, semolina pudding, pastries, and hot chocolate. In food production, mace is used in the production of white sausages, yellow sausage, meatloaf, and gingerbread. Powdered mace can be added to dishes or baked goods as a fine seasoning.

GOOD TO KNOW
The mace flower is the seed coat of the nutmeg and is surrounded by an apricot-like pulp. The exotic aroma of the mace flower is reminiscent of nutmeg, but milder and fresher. Important: Use sparingly!

TASTE
Like nutmeg, mace has an aromatic, resinous and slightly sweet-bitter flavor, but is more refreshing and sweet than the seed kernel. Unlike nutmeg, the aroma doesn't evaporate as quickly, making it more suitable for cooking.

PRODUCTION
The mace is not the flower of the nutmeg tree, but rather a part of the tree's seed. During harvest, the green fruit capsule is cracked open, revealing the actual nutmeg – surrounded by a ruby-red net. The mace, as it is also called, is carefully removed from the nut and then gently sun-dried. Depending on how carefully this is done, a yellow to red, ideally amber-colored, intensely fragrant mace develops. The quality of the mace depends on the growing region, the ripeness of the fruit, and the expertise of the farmer who harvests and lovingly processes this exotic spice legend.