When I think of Christmas, I think of cloves, the rock-hard reddish buds which spice up mulled wine and add zest to all manner of holiday recipes. Ironically, the clove tree Syzygium aromaticum is a tropical plant. Yes, it's evergreen. Yes, its bright red and white flower buds look properly festive, but the clove tree isn't something you'd place beside your other houseplants. It grows up to thirty feet high and twenty-five feet wide! Still, I like to include it in a December posting because I often think of cloves this time of year.
The clove scent--combined with a hint of cinnamon--always makes me think of warm winter evenings by the fire, holiday decorating and singing Christmas carols. Other cultures have different traditions, but the spicy nuggets are just as vital to them. Cloves have been used in the Middle East, China and Mediterranean areas since classical times. They became the rage in Europe back in the eighth century.
Native to the "Spice Islands" of the East Indies, cloves are actually the expanded flowers buds of the plant, dried and commercially available to us all. The pungent culinary additive not only spices up everything from ham to hot cider, its oil, which contains the natural antiseptic eugenol, relieves toothache pain when dropped onto a cavity. Traditionally, it was used to curb vomiting and relieve nausea via clove tea. Herbalists even combined it with olive oil to relieve earaches, but be warned: placing pure clove oil in the ear canal can cause permanent damage to delicate structures within the ear. Best to consult a doctor about your aches and pains and enjoy the tasty attributes of cloves in your favorite dishes and drinks.
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