Every day we use at least one spice in our daily recipes. It can be chili powder, turmeric, garlic powder, paprika, or cinnamon.
Today we will discuss a small but effective spice called Cloves. Cloves are tiny grain-like flower buds that have a distinct smell.
One can instantly recognize the scent of cloves as soon as you incorporate them into your recipe.
What do cloves taste like? At first taste, it can taste like spicy cinnamon candy. But, it is much more beyond that.
It gives you a tingling sensation and even numbs the whole mouth if you eat more than one clove of it.
What are Cloves?
Cloves are flower buds that give a strong but sweet aroma from the clove plant. It is commonly grown in Maluku islands, Indonesia but is also grown in other Asian, African, European, and South American countries.
They are first dried and then sold individually or with an assortment of different spices.
It is an important spice that people call ‘Mother nature’s Antiseptic.’
Aside from using it as a spice, clove is also effective as medicinal oil. There are many uses of clove oil. People in Asia have been using them for generations to cure toothaches. One stick of clove on the aching tooth helps you get relief instantly.
Please ensure that you use the diluted oil when you apply it to your skin.
What Do Cloves Taste Like? Do Cloves Taste Good?
Adding cloves to your dish instantly gives you a warm aroma. It has such an intense smell. Even when you breathe in the aroma of cloves, you can feel inner healing. That is the magic of the clove flower.
Cloves provide a warm flavor to any dish you add. It can cut the over sweetness and bring balance by its bitter taste.
Even though cloves can taste bitter, they can leave your tongue tingling with an electrifying sensation. No wonder Asians chew on a stick of clove as a mouth freshener.
According to WebMD, some of the nutritional benefits of eating cloves are it can improve liver health. Cloves contain eugenol that can help maintain a healthy liver along with reducing your fatty liver.
Cloves can also treat ulcers in the stomach. Ulcers appear on your stomach’s lining when the mucus starts to thin out.
Daily intake of cloves will help fatten your mucus lining and protect your stomach from ulcers and other ailments.
Medical News Today states that one teaspoon of cloves contain
- Around 5 kilocalories.
- Around 1.2 grams of carbohydrate.
- Around 1 gram of manganese.
- Around 0.10 grams of protein.
- Around 0.5 grams of fiber.
- Around 0.25 grams of total fat.
- Around 0.10 grams of natural sugar
Clove oil is also a popular medicine used by ancient Ayurvedic sages. Indians believe that Clove oil contains antimicrobial and anesthetic properties that can cure scabies, cough, acne and improves digestion. It can even help in premature ejaculation in men.
How to Cook/Use Cloves?
Usually, people use cloves as a part of an allspice ingredient. Allspice consists of elements of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and black pepper. But you can also add your choice of spices like anise or cumin.
One of the most popular ways of including cloves in your diet is by mixing them in your daily cup of tea. It is popularly called Masala chai (Masala tea).
You can blend your own masala tea by putting your choice of spices like cloves, cardamom, star anise, black pepper, and cinnamon, which is the most popular one.
Other than tea, you can use cloves as an ingredient in cakes and cookies.
Also, cloves are good to use when you marinate and season your meat for making Asian curry. It is also good to use cloves in pickles.
You can use cloves when preparing mulled wine. Here is a simple recipe for you to make some mulled wine.
You can find cloves from any good grocery or spice stores. Since you can buy them in dried form, you can buy and keep them in your cupboard for a long time. Its shelf life is more than a year, but if you buy it in a box, read the warranty and use it accordingly.
For some people, cloves can cause allergies. Please check and see whether you are also allergic to cloves.
Also, cloves contain eugenol, which can cause a drug interaction with blood-thinning medications like Warfarin. People who have low blood sugar should also consult their doctors before you include cloves in your diet.
Conclusion
Aside from consuming cloves and using them on your skin, Cloves are also very good in repelling ants. Inserting cloves onto an orange not only gives out a warm aroma but repels ants in an organic way.
Cloves can also aid in weight management and help you lead a healthy.
Thus these, are some of the health benefits. We hope that this post will encourage you to use more cloves in your diet.
What Do Cloves Taste Like? Do Cloves Taste Good?
Ingredients
- Cloves
- Ingredients from your favorite recipes
Instructions
- Depending on the recipes you choose, the taste can vastly differ.
- For authentic results, it is important to choose a recipe that will highlight the original flavor.
- Have fun experimenting with different recipes and taste tests!
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