Cardamom ~ add some spice to your holidays!

By Jan Recchio (grampapa) December 6, 2007

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You may or may not be familiar with the spice cardamom, Elettaria cardamomum. Here's a little history, tips on growing it yourself and some ways you can add it's wonderful flavor to your holidays.

Cardamom, Elettaria cardamomum, is a member of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is the aromatic seeds of the plant that are used for their sweet flavor. Most of us know the bite-on-your-tongue, zingy flavor of ginger, from gingersnaps, gingerbread, gingerale or Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine. Cardamom has a warm, lemony flavor. You may have eaten it in a number of things without knowing it. It is used extensively in Arab and Indian cooking, particulary curries, is a must for Turkish coffee and is an ingredient in some Scandanavian cookies and pastries, liqueurs and even gin. It has also been used in perfume making and is said to aid digestion.

History

The history of the name 'cardamom' is a little cloudy. If we travel back to Roman times, there were two similar spices, cardamomum and amomum, both of which were of Eastern origin. Cardamomum is generally assumed to have been identical to what we call cardamom today and was the more expensive of the two. Amomum may have been a type similar to black cardamom, Amomum subulatum Roxb ^[1] . Cardamom has come through the ages with very few changes to it's name across many languages; cardamom in English and German, kardamon in Polish, cardamomo in Italian and Spanish, kardemomme in Norwegian and Danish, cardamome in French. It is also frequently misspelled as 'cardamon'. The varieties of Amomum available today should not be confused with true cardamom as the flavors are very different; Aframomum melegueta (Grains of Paradise), Aframomum citratum (atzoh), Amomum compactum (Siam cardamom) and Alpinia nutans (dwarf cardamom) are some examples. True cardamom is also known as green cardamom due to the color of the pods; amomem has brown pods and may be called brown cardamom. Confused? Let's get away from the Latin names and see what you can do with it.

Growing Cardamom at Home

A rhizomatous tender perennial, cardamom is a tropical plant hardy in zones 8 though 11. It's native environment is the jungle floor, so it needs warm, moist shade. Best grown as a house plant in zones 7 and below, cardamom dislikes sudden temperature changes, direct sunlight and drafts. It should also be misted or kept on a tray of moist pebbles. I took a virtual trip to Papa Geno's Herb Farm for more information. It states that 'under the right conditions Cardamom can grow 5 to 10 feet tall, but generally will stay small in more temperate climates.' In my research, I am seeing sizes in the home garden that average around 2 feet. One source stated that "cardamom can only be grown indoors in this country" and "won't survive outdoors even in summer. Requires a heated greenhouse or a very warm, shady humid place inside a building...hot steamy bathrooms are ideal." ^[2] Obviously, the images at either side of this paragraph refute this statement. They are both of cardamom being grown successfully by DG members. The photo at the right shows cardamom in bloom. When the pods or capsules are ripe, they will separate fairly easily from the stem (panicle) without much forcing. The black seeds should be left inside the capsules and dried very thoroughly before storing to prevent mold.

Cardamom for Baking

One of the most expensive spices, cardamom has a strong flavor, so only small amounts are needed. The biggest producers for export today are in South America because the Eastern countries consume most of their own crops. The most desireable cardamom for use in recipes is green pods. The white pods are bleached and said to be somewhat bitter and have less flavor. While ground cardamom is certainly acceptable, the essential oils that give the spice it's flavor dissipate rather quickly after grinding. You can grind it yourself in a spice grinder or use a mortar and pestle. I had neither, so I improvised and used a small glass bowl with a flat bottom and a tall shot glass, also with a flat bottom. You need to be sure that your two surfaces match. It worked pretty well but was a lot of work. One teaspoon of the seeds yielded 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground spice, so I had enough for both recipes below when I finished.

Try the following recipes for a traditional taste of cardamom in your home this holiday season.

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Recipe for 'Finnish Sweet Cardamom Raisin Bread'

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine ^[3]

This soft, slightly sweet bread is made with plenty of butter, which results in tender pieces that can pulled apart, bite by bite.

Active time: 45 minutes; Start to finish: 4 1/2 hours

Servings: makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

1 cup baking raisins

1/4 cup water

1 package fast-rising yeast

5 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter (cut in small pieces)

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 egg yolk and 1 Tbsp water for egg wash

Preparation

If baking raisins are not available, use regular raisins and soak in hot tap water to cover until plump, about 20 minutes, then drain.

Heat water and milk to 120-130° F. in a small saucepan.

Sift together flour, sugar, cardamom, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Blend in butter with pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in heated liquids. Add egg and stir with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead, dusting surface and hands with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes.

Pat dough into a 9-inch square and sprinkle with raisins. Fold dough over to enclose raisins and pinch edges to seal. Knead, dusting surface and hands lightly with flour, until raisins are distributed. (Dough will be lumpy and slightly sticky; if any raisins pop out, just push them back in.) Form dough into a ball. Put dough in a large, buttered bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let sit for 10 minutes.

Cut dough in half. Cut one half into thirds and roll each piece into a 15-inch rope. Braid together 3 ropes to form a loaf, then transfer to a large, parchment-lined baking sheet, tucking ends under. Make another loaf with remaining half of dough, arranging loaves 4 inches apart on baking sheet. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350° F. with rack in the middle of the oven.

Brush loaves with egg wash made with one egg yolk lightly beaten with one tablespoon of water. Bake until bottoms sound hollow when tapped and crust is golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Note: The original recipe did not call for any furthur decoration. I made a simple glaze out of 10XXX sugar and milk, mixed until smooth and fairly thick. The frills are halved maraschino cherries (I didn't have candied ones) and some sprigs of fresh lemon mint that were still surviving in my November herb garden.

Bread can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept, wrapped well, at room temperature or frozen 1 month.

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Recipe for 'Turkish Coffee' (Hint: This might go well with the Finnish sweet bread above.)

Adapted from About.com ^[4]

Prep time about 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup cold water

1 Tbsp extra finely ground coffee (powder consistency)

1/8 tsp ground cardamom or 1 whole cardamom pod

1 1/2 tsp sugar, or to taste (optional)

Preparation

Bring water and sugar to a boil in an ibrik, a small Turkish coffee pot that is heated. If you do not have an ibrik, a small saucepan may be used.

Remove from heat and add coffee and cardamom.

Return to heat and allow to come to a boil. Remove from heat when coffee foams. Watch carefully or it will boil over.

Again, return to heat, allowing to foam and remove from heat.

Pour into demitasse cup and allow to sit for a few minutes to allow grounds to settle to the bottom of the cup. Cardamom pod may be served in the cup for added flavor. Serve with the foam on the top. Do not stir or the foam will collapse. Never add milk or cream to Turkish coffee.

To serve more than one person, just multiply the ingredients and use a pot large enough to allow the coffee to foam up without boiling over. Be sure you distribute the foam evenly between the cups.

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^[1] "Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia", 'Cardamom', 2007.

^[2] Plant Cultures, 'Cardamom-grow it'

^[3] Langbein, Julia. Gourmet, August 2007.

^{[4] Fayed, Saad, About.com}

^{Special thanks to DG members ceejaytown and labama for the photos of 'cardamom in the garden setting' and 'cardamom in bloom', respectively.}

While the main focus at Dave's Garden is plants and gardening, it is a community and we have many interests. Please join us in the Cooking Forum, the Recipes Forum (for paid members only) or the Holidays and Special Events Forum for more holiday ideas.

About Jan Recchio   I'm a 'dabble' gardener. Been gardening for over 40 years. I will plant anything that will grow for me and some things that won't, indoors or out. Outdoors I have theme gardens: roses, butterfly/hummingbird, heathers/dwarf conifers, a rock garden (in progress) and a new English-style cottage garden with an herb garden at it's 'heart'. Indoors I try to concentrate on orchids, African violets, anything that will flower or has lots of color and unusual houseplants. I try to stay organic and keep chemicals to a bare minimum. My non-gardening interests include quilting, counted cross-stitch and watercolor painting. I am a proud grandma and before my recent retirement, I was a clinical systems analyst (computer geek) for 24 years.

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Subject: Thanks so much!

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Posted by UniQueTreasures (from Beaumont, TX) on December 10, 2007 at 9:56 PM:

Jan, I just re-read your article about Cardamom. I've heard Connie talk about it many times, but don't think I've ever used it myself.

At the end of the article you posted several links to other forums, including cooking and recipe forums. You also included the Holiday and Special Event forum, which I didn't realize even existed. I've had a whole lot of fun checking out that forum. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. The timing for the holidays is wonderful and I've added it to my favorites! :-)

Janet

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 10, 2007 at 10:45 PM:

Janet, I'm not surprised that you haven't had the time to discover all the forums that are available. You seem to pop up everywhere, and you know that the step-by-step that you and Connie did on your copper sculpture for balvenie is one of my all-time favorite threads. I should go back and spend some time in Holiday and Special Events myself.

Nice to hear from you!

jan

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Posted by UniQueTreasures (from Beaumont, TX) on December 10, 2007 at 11:23 PM:

Thanks so much Jan. That was one of my favorite threads also. So much so that I created a slide show from the thread on our new phanfare site. A big piece of both mine and Connie's hearts went into creating Penelope. I removed all of the "chatting" from the creation, leaving just the making of the sculpture in a nice slide show that can be viewed chronologically without having to open up each photo. Here is a link to the show in case you are interested. [HYPERLINK@uniquetreasures.phanfare.com] Because it was such a huge thread, I broke it into 5 segments, but if you click on Day 1, it continues without having to do anything on your part.

I am going to have to get some cardamom and try out some of those delicious recipes you posted.

Janet

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 11, 2007 at 8:22 AM:

Janet, thanks so much for the link! it was so much fun to live thru Penelope's creation again :0) I had forgotten some of the little details, and the photos are sooo good. You two girls have got THE talent for sure! When you are doing interviews with artists about garden art, don't forget yourself and Connie.

you can find lots of cardamom recipes by googling...that's what I did. I just picked one I thought I could handle LOL I'm definitely going to try some more.

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Posted by UniQueTreasures (from Beaumont, TX) on December 11, 2007 at 8:39 AM:

Google is definitely our friend! 8^} How did we ever get along in this world before Google???

Jan, there are so many incredibly talented artists that populate this site and I've found several willing participants for articles on some really great garden art. We're collaborating now, but I really don't expect to have any of them completed until after the first of the year. There's too much hustle and bustle already going on for all of us to worry about that at the moment. It's going to be a lot of fun working on these articles.

I do plan on including Connie and myself in one of the articles. We've already created plenty of projects ourselves, so we've got the material to work with. But I don't want us to be the first.

Janet

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Posted by hemlockbarn (from Low Gap, NC) on December 10, 2007 at 12:10 PM:

as a newcomer to dg, I am pleased with the ease of linking within articles and the delightful comments throughout.

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Posted by DonnieBrook (from N Hampshire/Florida
(United States)) on December 7, 2007 at 8:56 PM:

Jan, this is such an interesting article. I knew next to nothing about this lovely spice until I read your article. I'm tempted to try growing some here in my zone 10 winter garden. Thanks for including the photos as well. Terrific job!! Louise

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 7, 2007 at 11:15 PM:

Thanks, Louise. It was interesting for me as well. I wound up buying a rather large amount, so I think I'll be looking for more recipes. Let me know if you get a plant. I'd be interested in knowing how it does for you.

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Posted by DonnieBrook (from N Hampshire/Florida
(United States)) on December 8, 2007 at 6:50 PM:

Will do, Jan. I should check at HD here....they have a pretty good section on herbs....but I'm not sure if theirs are more the common herbs only. If I find any recipes that call for it, I'll let you know! Hope you're having a nice weekend!! Louise

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Posted by nap (from Depew, NY) on December 6, 2007 at 10:21 PM:

Loved reading all about cardamom. Yes, I've tasted it before, but not in anything as good looking as that sweet bread. I may have to see if I can make that someday. Wait...I have a better idea....YOU make it, and invite me over!

Good job, Jan.

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Posted by Zuzu (from Sebastopol, CA) on December 7, 2007 at 1:28 AM:

Good article, Jan. Lots of information and good recipes. It's a pretty plant too. I've never seen a picture of it before.

I want to come over with Nap for some of that bread. My grandmother made a sweet bread that looked just like that and probably was the same thing. She always used cardamom in her baked goods, and Russia's not that far from Finland.

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 7, 2007 at 11:44 AM:

It felt good to have my hands in dough. I have a bread machine and haven't kneaded anything in a long time. I'm thinking about trying this out in the machine on the dough cycle. We'd probably have it more often. and you have to eat it fast, darn it, or it gets stale ;0)

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Posted by tabasco (from Cincinnati (Anderson, OH) on December 6, 2007 at 9:06 PM:

Loved your beautiful photos for the article--especially the one of the holiday bread on the blue plate! Just looked scrumptious and I'm sure it was!

Your explanation of how to use cardamom was excellent, too. So often I don't really know how to use spices and you gave some excellent advice! Thanks. t.

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Posted by soapwort243 (from South Milwaukee, WI) on December 6, 2007 at 6:02 PM:

I Love Cardamon !! I make Cardamon Bread every year for Christmas !! After you have it a few times-you really get a craving for it ! It is an unique spice and I love it. I never knew it was in Turkish coffee. Thanks for your article--It was Great !! Now I have that Cardamom Bread on my mind. hmmmmmmm

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Posted by northgrass (from West Chazy, NY) on December 6, 2007 at 9:44 AM:

I enjoyed your well researched article on cardamom. Now I just have to try the bread recipe.

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Posted by gardenglory (from Gainesville, FL) on December 6, 2007 at 3:54 PM:

Ditto....and also thanks for the bread pictures.

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 6, 2007 at 5:23 PM:

thanks to you both :0) it makes the whole house smell heavenly

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Posted by Pamgarden (from Central, VA) on March 9, 2008 at 2:34 PM:

Jan, I was just reading your article on cardamom, written prior to my subscription to DG. I had to chuckle when you wrote that the research said it could only be grown indoors in the US. I planted a gallon nursery pot in Orlando, z9 and by year 3, I was hacking it down with a machete. The flowers were beautiful, and although not long lasting, prolific. I would love to try it again here in z7, where it might behave better. You are absolutely right about the aroma. The smell of the freshly cut or crushed leaves is so clean and spicy. My DH just came home from the PO with Critter's bubble envelope full of seeds and inside was one of your packets of fennel. I'm just itching to get some potting soil and get it going. Thank you for a wonderful article and for being a seed sharer.

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on March 9, 2008 at 4:11 PM:

That's cool, Pam. I really like this kind of feedback :0) (and the fact that somebody is still reading my old articles LOL). Glad you got some of that fennel seed, too. That's a fun plant to grow. I wintersowed it last year with no trouble so it should be easy to start. By the end of the summer you'll have buckets of seed to share, too. and that's another one with a wonderful smell.

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Posted by wind (from Mount Laurel, NJ) on December 6, 2007 at 8:14 AM:

Hi, great write up!
I love cardamom ~ never thought of what the plant would look like! My brother-in-law is from Jordan and introduced us to Turkish coffee. It is really good. I let him make it the real way (as in your recipe). I like the flavor so much, what I do is keep a bag of the green pods near the coffee supplies and when I grind coffee beans in the morning, I toss in 4 or so, pod and all, which of course gets trapped in the filter with the coffee grinds :)))))
The bread recipe looks good too, I'm going to print it out and hope to find time someday to try it. Thanks again!

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 6, 2007 at 9:10 AM:

wind, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. My Turkish coffee was a flop. I couldn't get it to foam properly. But the bread was great! try it if you get a chance.

thanks, jan

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Posted by Pagancat (from Gainesboro, TN) on December 6, 2007 at 11:08 AM:

Great job, Jan - thanks!

Isn't the green cardamom (thanks for giving me the correct spelling, too) also one of the ingredients in Chai tea (one of my favorite drinks)?

Now, I do *not* need another indoor plant, thank you... or do I...

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 6, 2007 at 12:25 PM:

PC, you're right! I should have included that :)

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Posted by Pagancat (from Gainesboro, TN) on December 6, 2007 at 12:28 PM:

Consider it included, lol!

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Posted by bbrookrd (from nantucket, MA) on December 6, 2007 at 3:15 PM:

I so enjoyed your cardamon article this morning, which is one of my truly favorite herbaceous plants. I was given a tiny plant in the 70's by a dear friend's father who was a major grower in Guatemala in the 40's and 50's. It has survived each winter in my cool GH, but has never bloomed. The scent from the leaves is wonderful and the sentimental value of the gift is priceless, even if I never have a bloom. This man wrote an amazing and beautiful (in the hard cover version) book called The Book of Spices by Frederic Rosengarten, Jr. in 1969 which I also treasure as a great source. Thank you for the recipes. I drive out of my way to go to a tiny bakery in Greenfield Ma who make a mean cardamon bread. Patti

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Posted by FlowrLady (from Olive Branch, MS) on December 6, 2007 at 3:46 PM:

Amazon has that book for $45.00.

Thanks for this article. I've never cooked with cardamom.

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Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on December 6, 2007 at 4:06 PM:

What a great article Jan. I could almost smell that bread - thank you!!

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Posted by victorgardener (from Lower Hudson Valley, NY) on December 6, 2007 at 4:36 PM:

Nice job, Jan! Never tried it.

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Posted by bbrookrd (from nantucket, MA) on December 6, 2007 at 4:45 PM:

flowrlady, a better source for an out of print copy is Addallbooks which is a giant search engine that lists what the all major OP dealers are selling on one site, not just amazon. Books are a main passion of mine so I spend a lot of time on this site. The hardback book is a nearly 500 page book with many plates and illustrations. The paper back is not worth buying as it was seriously edited and contains very few illustrations and plates. Patti

[HYPERLINK@used.addall.com]

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Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on December 6, 2007 at 4:59 PM:

Oh Jan -- my daughter has celiac disease -- we can't eat wheat flour any more. Boo hiss. She's the only one around adventurous enough to try something like that bread with me. She'd probably like the Turkish coffee too. Congrats! Gorgeous pictures and wrap-around text! xx, Carrie

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 6, 2007 at 5:22 PM:

thanks, all.

Patti, how wonderful that you have nutured that plant all these years. From my reading, I'm not surprised it has never bloomed. The book sounds wonderful.

carrie, it must be very frustrating to have to avoid wheat. you must make a career out of reading food labels. although it might help me cut down on the starch in my diet. I'm terrible.

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Posted by wind (from Mount Laurel, NJ) on December 6, 2007 at 6:18 PM:

Carrie, I'm just completing a report on substitutions for ww flour using sorghum flour in bread recipes in an undergraduate nutrition/experimental foods study I'm doing. If your daughter is able to consume dairy products (some with cd are lactose intolerant too) you may want to try this:

I found that if you modify a bread recipe to 1/3 potato starch then take the remaining 2/3's of the wheat flour and substitute a blend of 50%sorghum flour and 50%garbanzo flour, and add 1 tsp xanthan gum ...you might find yourself with a pretty darn good bread, just like the real deal :)

I bet it would work for this recipe...It might not be able to be braided, I'm not sure. and the nice part is since there is no gluten you can skip any kneading, resting and second proofing etc of the dough. Just combine it real well and let it rise with the yeast like normal, one rise should do it. Let me know if you try it :) ps: you probably should skip egg washing too, the structure is not as stable (uncooked) as a bread with gluten.

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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on December 6, 2007 at 7:19 PM:

Great article! I use cardamon but now have more information at my fingertips. Thanks.

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Posted by Dutchlady1 (from Naples, FL) on December 6, 2007 at 10:03 PM:

I have used cardamom for years - nice to see more information about it.

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Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on December 7, 2007 at 6:19 AM:

Wind - we have just about every other kind of flour in the house - buckwheat, soy, rice, corn, sweet potato, but not sorghum. The thing is it's already one weird thing (cardamom) and then another weird thing (non wheat flour) and the rest of the family might not put up with it. Infidels x, C

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 7, 2007 at 11:40 AM:

carrie, do you have to tell 'em? cardamom isn't weird, just unfamiliar. I'd bet they've eaten it before and didn't know it.

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Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on December 7, 2007 at 12:28 PM:

With my lot, if it doesn't say "all MSG and artificially flavored, no whole grains or natural flavors present" on the label, they probably won't eat it. xx, Carrie

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Posted by FlowrLady (from Olive Branch, MS) on December 7, 2007 at 12:43 PM:

Thanks bbrook. I've ordered it, $8.00 total! Should get it sometime next week.

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Posted by bbrookrd (from nantucket, MA) on December 8, 2007 at 12:31 PM:

I am sure you will treasure it. It has a massive amount of information in it. The recipes are a tad dated, but some are like lost souls, needing to be found, but the plant information is timeless. Patti

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Posted by cactuspatch (from La Luz/Alamogordo, NM) on December 10, 2007 at 2:19 PM:

Enjoyed your article. I love cardamon. I have been adding it to apple pies and crisps for many years. I don't think I will try and grow it though, interesting to see how it is grown.

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Posted by Pagancat (from Gainesboro, TN) on December 10, 2007 at 8:02 PM:

OMG - you weren't kidding it's expensive!!!! Compared to a brand where just about anything else was under $3.50, it was $14.00!!! Wow!

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 10, 2007 at 10:40 PM:

Can't say I didn't warn you LOL

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Posted by Pagancat (from Gainesboro, TN) on December 10, 2007 at 10:57 PM:

Too true! And I thought saffron was bad.... well, it *is* bad, but ....

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 11, 2007 at 7:37 AM:

actually, I was a bit 'sticker shocked', too. I was hoping to find a smaller amount. I love the taste, but it's going to be tough to use this much up while it still has good flavor. I should put it in the freezer.

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Posted by cactuspatch (from La Luz/Alamogordo, NM) on December 11, 2007 at 1:52 PM:

OMG! I guess I haven't bought it in awhile. The good news is that mine has lasted a long time. I like to buy new spices every year usually. Carrie, mine are just the opposite. I don't have a Whole Foods in my area, so they bring their own food for me to cook when they come. It saves me having to shop at least!

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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on December 11, 2007 at 2:00 PM:

Have you looked online at Frontier Herbs for it? [HYPERLINK@www.frontiercoop.com]

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Posted by wind (from Mount Laurel, NJ) on December 11, 2007 at 3:12 PM:

I have found ethnic specialty stores that sell cardamom in larger volumes have the best buys :) They are great for other things too, cinnamon sticks, bulk dates you name it. Never shopped here before, but there are places like this online if you can't find one near your home
[HYPERLINK@www.indianblend.com]

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Posted by FlowrLady (from Olive Branch, MS) on December 11, 2007 at 5:00 PM:

I get some of my spices from Penzey's. There is a store w/in 30 minutes of my house.

[HYPERLINK@www.penzeys.com]

...but I've never used cadamom. It seems like I am missing out on something!

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Posted by Pagancat (from Gainesboro, TN) on December 11, 2007 at 6:55 PM:

Thanks - Pat and Darius, those links are a lot more reasonable, I should've known better.

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 11, 2007 at 7:50 PM:

Great links! thanks, everyone. wow, what a huge difference in price! I couldn't even find the whole green pods. I didn't have time to look for it online because I had to get the article done. but I sure will bookmark all of these for future reference.

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Posted by FlowrLady (from Olive Branch, MS) on December 12, 2007 at 1:21 PM:

Since I've found Penzey's, I like to go there for spices. They seem to be fresher than what I can get in my chain grocery store.

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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on December 13, 2007 at 8:40 PM:

grampapa, Penzey's carries whole cardamon, and whole cardamon pods.

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 13, 2007 at 9:41 PM:

Thanks, darius. I already checked them out and saw it. I just didn't have time to order online for the article. Had to rely on my local supermarket

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Posted by FlowrLady (from Olive Branch, MS) on December 14, 2007 at 1:55 PM:

well, there's always a next time. Sometimes it's hard to plan ahead, tho.

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Posted by Islandshari (from Kwajalein
(Marshall Islands)) on December 17, 2007 at 12:08 AM:

Jan, just had a chance to read this wonderful article on a familiar old friend. You did a great job with the pictures and taking us all into your kitchen for a bite of that lovely bread. Cardamom is used in a lot of cookie recipes that I bake up during the holidays, and I have a similar fruit bread that also calls for it. As for Turkish coffee... my husband had a bit too much of it when we lived in Saudi Arabia, so will not touch it now, and I can live without the heavy sweetness of that kind of coffee. But for baking, it is the best. Thanks for bringing it to the attention it deserves!

Yokwe,
Shari

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 17, 2007 at 1:57 AM:

Shari, thanks for the very nice comments. I've just found some cookie recipes that sound pretty good. I'll probably try one or two for the holidays.

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Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on December 20, 2007 at 10:46 AM:

Wonderful article! Now I got to have me some of that! LOL We are coffee drinkers here and I dying to try the turkish coffee. Thank so much!

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Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 20, 2007 at 11:17 AM:

hope you enjoy it! thanks...jan

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