Cloves Technical Notes:
Origin: Madagascar / Tanzania / Indonesia depending on season
Quality*: A Grade, Red
Industry Knowledge: Cloves were one of the first globally traded spices, going as far back as 1721 B.C., and are Regency's first ever product, which we began trading with in 1951. Cloves were highly prized in both the West and the Far East, owing to high use by the Romans and the Chinese, which led to it quickly rising to become one of the most expensive spices money could buy. As such, they have a rich history: The Chinese were known to chew them before an audience with the emperor to make sure their breath was fresh; and in the 1600s, the Dutch once tried to gain a monopoly on the trade by controlling as much land containing cloves as they could. Regency's Pemba-origin Cloves rank as the best in terms of taste. They are reddish, long and dry compared to other varieties.Good quality cloves are fat, oily, and red in colour, and give out their oil when squeezed with the finger-nail. Cloves grown in Madagascar yeild a unique taste, as the clove tree prefers well drained rich soil with sufficient soil moisture throughout the year, meaning heavy sunlight, mildly warm temperatures throughout the year, as well as a good and well-distributed rainfall and high humidity. Tanzanian Cloves add a warm, intense flavour to dishes, even when only a few cloves are used in the cooking process. A single clove is enough to numb the tongue owing to its highly concentrated flavour - making them exceptionally economical to use in tagines, curries, spiced desserts, and a myriad of other complex dishes. Cloves are also one of the essential ingredients to Five Spice Powder.
Also known as Syzygium aromaticumCLAVO, CLAU, CRAVINHO, CLOVAS, LAUNG, LAVANG, LAVING, KRAMBU, CLOU DE GIROFLE, लौंग, 丁香
*INDUSTRY SPECIFIC TERMINOLOGY.