[Sca-cooks] Whole to ground spice equivalents

[Stefan li Rous]

Avraham said:
> I have refreshed my memory. It's not that you CAN'T grind cinnamon at
> home. It's that they use lower quality stuff, bark from lower down on
> the tree, to make cinnamon sticks. The better quality bark is powdered
> before you buy it. Similarly with ginger - the best quality stuff is
> powdered at the time of harvest, but that's because the best quality
> ginger doesn't travel well.

I think that you have this exactly backwards. The whole spices tend
to keep and ship better because they keep their essential oils better.
Grind any of the whole spices and then compare the aroma to some
sold as a powder.

Also, when you buy the whole spice you know that is what you are
getting. When it has been powdered you don't know if it has been
adulterated or not. Saffron is a good example of this.

We also have period manuscripts (Menegier of Paris?) which specifically
say to get the whole spices because then you know they haven't been
adulterated.

For more discussion on this you might take a look at this file:
spices-msg       (126K)  3/23/01    Info. on spices, sources for spices.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/PLANTS/spices-msg.html
--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas          stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****