The Christmas of my childhood included the smell of a live tree, real candles, fried carp, and of course also candy, which smelled far and wide from the boxes. Thanks to the spices…
Let’s take a look at the types of spices that were an inseparable part of our Christmas and perhaps still are. Many grow in the tropics, and for centuries they were one of the main reasons for voyages of discovery.
Anise
Common anise has ground leaves (Pimpinella anisum) heart-shaped, the stem ones are completely different, strongly divided. The herb has white flowers in clusters, the fruit is a dicot. All parts of the plant are fragrant. The species comes from Asia Minor. Now it is mostly grown in South-Eastern Europe, Spain, India, Turkey, Mexico. In our country, it thrives in warmer areas during spring direct sowing in rows. The fruit is harvested in August to September.
Ground or whole fruit is used as a spice. It is put into small Christmas sweet pastries and gingerbread or Christmas cookies. Also in compotes, liqueurs, candies and teas. In East Asia, meat dishes are also spiced with anise. In medicine, it is mainly used for oral hygiene and improving digestion.
Badyan
Spices are dried fruits including the seeds of star anise (That’s right) evergreen tree growing wild from India through China and Vietnam to the Philippines. They are planted in plantations, but only when the trees are fifteen years old, have yellow-green flowers and it is possible to start harvesting, but then the harvest is three times a year. The largest world production is precisely from Southeast Asia.
Spices are used either whole in a typically star-shaped shape or ground. It tastes sweet, a strong smell is typical. Star anise is added to sweet dishes, especially where there are pears and plums. It is part of candies and liqueurs. Grog can be brewed with it. At Christmas, star anise is mainly found in a gingerbread mixture with cinnamon and cloves.
Fennel
Common fennel (Common fennel) is a stout up to 2 m tall carrot-like plant. It has leaves like dill, from which it is most easily distinguished by its typical smell. Fennel comes from the Mediterranean and the Balkans. It is a biennial herb, but it often lasts longer in a warm, sunny location, especially if you bring the plant back in after the stems have been removed in the fall. From August, harvest the entire gradually ripening seed pods or simply cover the plant with a large piece of paper or foil and knock it down. Usually some of the seeds escape and next year seedlings appear in the area. The leaves can also be used as a spice.
Fennel belongs mainly to French, Italian and Moroccan cuisine. At Christmas, you can find it in gingerbread. It also accompanies beetroot in meals, it can be used for medicinal children’s tea. The special form with fleshy petioles is now a well-known vegetable in our country.
Clove
A medium-tall evergreen tree, the fragrant clove (Eugenia caryophyllata) from the myrtle family originally grew only on the Moluccas Islands, which belong to Indonesia. For a long time it was transported exclusively by the Dutch, until in 1769 a Frenchman managed to smuggle clove seeds in hollow soles. The largest current production is in Zanzibar, Madagascar and Southeast Asia.
Dried undeveloped flower buds are used as a spice. It is crushed or ground only before use. Care must be taken, however, as the food is bitter in case of an overdose. Cloves go well with many sweet dishes, especially where there are apples. At Christmas, it is part of many mixtures, especially for cookies. Steamed rice with whole cloves stuck in onions can also be recommended. Cloves are also used in dentistry.
cardamom
The herb cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) grows natively in southwestern India. It reaches a height of over two meters, the leaves are long, the small flowers are whitish. The biggest current producers of this spice are Guatemala, Tanzania and Madagascar.
Unripe pods are dried, then peeled and ground or crushed before use in the kitchen. When handling cardamom, we feel its very intense sweet aroma. In our country it is used in sweet pastries, in the Arab world it is often used in coffee. As a very interesting recipe, we can recommend the one for small Christmas gingerbread spiced with cardamom.
Coriander
Coriander seeds (Coriander) is a very old spice originating in the Mediterranean. The annual herb can also be grown here without any problems by spring sowing in rows. The leaf has an unusual smell and taste that is not pleasant for everyone. It is added to salads, sauces and meats. This use is common mainly in Indian, Mexican or Arabic cuisine.
However, ground fruits with a sweet aroma are more well-known. It goes well with sweet Christmas pastries. However, it also belongs in stewed carrots and sausages. It is most widely used in Indian, Arabic, Moroccan, Mexican, Turkish, but also German and English cuisine.
Cinnamon
It is the fragrant peeled bark of the evergreen Ceylon cinnamon tree (Cinnamonum zeylanicum). Only after drying does it acquire a typical brown-yellow color. The tree belongs to the laurel family, has leathery leaves, small white-green fragrant flowers and blue-black berries. As the name suggests, this cinnamon tree comes from the state of Sri Lanka. It is widely grown in India, Madagascar and the Seychelles.
It can be said that everything we sweeten with sugar can also be flavored with cinnamon. It is most often used in the kitchen finely ground in a variety of sweet dishes, then left to boil whole for compotes. In the kitchen, it is mainly accompanied by apples. It is also indispensable in mulled wine. It is added to Christmas cookies and gingerbread. In stores today, you often come across cheaper Chinese cinnamon, cassia bark. It smells intense to sharp, lacking the sweetness and warmth of true cinnamon.
Vanilla
Quite a young spice came to Europe after the discovery of America. However, it was not commonly used as a spice until the end of the 17th century. Vanilla flatleaf (Vanilla planifolia) is actually a tense yellow-white flowering tropical orchid. It is the only useful plant of this family. The vanilla tree originally grew only in Mexico and Guatemala, where pollinating insects also live. It is now mostly grown in Madagascar, Réunion and French Polynesia. Here, however, pollination is done artificially by tapping. Spices are capsules plucked before ripening, fermented and then dried. These are commonly incorrectly called pods.
Commonly sold vanilla sugar contains artificially prepared ethyl vanillin, which is only one aromatic component of natural vanilla. However, you can also put real vanilla pods in sugar, which flavor them. Vanilla is added to many sweet foods, especially chocolate, creams and ice creams. A traditional recipe could be ducat buns with vanilla cream, and at Christmas, of course, vanilla rolls. They are prepared by hand, in molds or in a meat grinder.
Ginger
The Slovak name for ginger is noteworthy, which is also a mountain in the Low Tatras. The Czech name is medicinal ginger (Zingiber officinale). The perennial herb grows to a height of 1.5 meters, the leaves are narrowly oblong, it blooms very rarely with small yellow-purple flowers. This spice also originates somewhere in Southeast Asia. It is now grown mainly in India, China and Japan, but also in Jamaica and Nigeria.
Ginger actually has two uses in the kitchen. On the one hand, the fresh rhizome is grated and brewed for a sharp tea, on the other hand, the ginger is dried and ground. This makes it an indispensable spice for many sweet dishes. From small pastries, they are gingerbread with typical angular shapes, which used to be commonly made for Christmas. However, dried ginger is also suitable for meat, especially fish. You can try sprinkling ginger on the carp before frying this year and you will be surprised by its interesting taste.
About the author
Jiří Žlebčík he is a botanist. He has been researching and growing plants at the Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Horticulture for decades.
