Calabash nutmeg
Monodora myristica · Spice
Top 10 pairings
Calabash nutmeg is the dried, oily seed of Monodora myristica, a tropical African tree of the custard-apple family (Annonaceae) — botanically unrelated to true nutmeg yet so similar in its warm, sweet, nutmeg-and-clove aroma that it is its classic West-African substitute. Known across the region as ehuru, ehiri, ariwo, awerewa or African nutmeg, the seed is roasted, peeled and grated into soups, stews, pepper soup and porridges from Nigeria to Senegal.
Picking a good onedrag
Just milled, loud and oilyFaded, dusty, smells of nothing
Whole in the coatEveryday bestWhole seeds hold their oil far longer than powder. Keep the bag in the spice tin and grate a little each time a soup, stew or porridge asks for it.
Crack one and smellWarm and clove-sweet, but you put your nose close to find it
Whole seed or gratedPeeled cream kernels, whole and unbroken, ready to grate
Scratch the kernelFirm, shaves clean and dry, the cut face still smells warm
Look in the bagColour a shade uneven, a few cracked coats, some dust settled