09.08 ‑ Nutmeg, mace and cardamoms.
This heading covers :(A) Nutmegs, round or long, whether or not shelled. (B) Mace, which is the membraneous envelope of the nutmeg, between the outer shell and the kernel. This substance, which is cut into strips, has the same properties as nutmeg, but even more marked. It is bright red when fresh, but turns yellow with age, and becomes brittle and translucent like horn. Some mace is flaxen‑coloured or even white. (C) Cardamoms : (1) Grape cardamoms, so‑called because this variety grows in the form of closely packed clusters which are sometimes presented whole, but are more usually presented as single nuts about the size of a grape‑pip. The nuts are whitish, rounded with three projecting sides, light and membraneous; they are divided internally into three sections containing many very aromatic seeds with a bitter, pungent flavour. (2) Small or medium cardamoms, similar to grape cardamoms in structure and properties, but more triangular and elongated. (3) Large cardamoms, which are triangular, from 27 to 40 mm long, and have a brownish shell. (4) Malaguetta pepper or "grains of paradise" (Aframomum melegueta) are almost invariably presented shelled, in small, elongated, angular seeds which, though rough surfaced, gleam as if they had been varnished. They are odourless but have a bitter, burning flavour similar to that of pepper.
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