1118-1326 TCXNutmeg

Malabar Nutmeg & Mace

Nutmeg is the kernel; mace is the scarlet aril wrapped around it. They come off the same tree, in the same hour, and are graded and priced entirely separately. India is the second largest producer and exporter of nutmeg.

No. 2

world producer & exporter

Botanical name: Myristica fragrans
Known as: Jathikka & Jathipathriജാതിക്ക
Origin: Ernakulam, Thrissur, Idukki
Harvest: June – August

Botanical plate of the nutmeg tree showing the fruit, the scarlet mace and the kernel

The story

Origin10°04′ N

KothamangalamErnakulam

Kerala76°37′ E

Nutmeg and mace come from the same fruit. Mace is the spice made from the reddish seed covering of the nutmeg seed — a flavour close to nutmeg but more delicate, used in baked goods, meat, fish, vegetables, and in preserving and pickling.

The tree thrives in a warm humid climate on soils running from sandy to red laterite with ample drainage, which describes the Kerala midlands precisely. India is the second largest producer and exporter of nutmeg in the world.

The two products separate at the moment of harvest and never rejoin. Mace is peeled off by hand, flattened and dried until it turns from crimson to amber; the nut is dried in shell for weeks before cracking. Half the value of a nutmeg harvest is in getting the mace off cleanly.

[ Why here ]

KothamangalamErnakulam · Kerala

Kerala midlands — warm, humid, red laterite with drainage. Trees are interplanted through smallholder gardens rather than grown in blocks, which is why lots are small and consistency is a sourcing job rather than a given.

Specification

Measured