Allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or pimento, is the dried unripe

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

of ''Pimenta dioica'', a midcanopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world. The name ''allspice'' was coined as early as 1621 by the English, who valued it as a spice that combined the flavours of

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

, nutmeg, and

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, ...

. Several unrelated fragrant shrubs are called "Carolina allspice" (''

Calycanthus floridus ''Calycanthus floridus'', or commonly known as the eastern sweetshrub, Carolina all spice, or spice bush, is a species of flowering shrub in the family Calycanthaceae. It is identifiable by its dark red flowers and fragrant scent. It is non-inva ...

''), "Japanese allspice" (''

Chimonanthus praecox ''Chimonanthus praecox'', also known as wintersweet and Japanese allspice, is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Chimonanthus'' of the family Calycanthaceae, native to China. The plant is known as ''làméi'' () in Chinese. The plant is ...

''), or "wild allspice" (''

Lindera benzoin ''Lindera benzoin'' (commonly called spicebush, common spicebush, northern spicebush, wild allspice, or Benjamin bush) is a shrub in the Lauraceae, laurel family, native to Eastern United States, eastern North America, ranging from Maine and New ...

'').

Production

Allspice is the dried fruit of the ''Pimenta dioica'' plant. The fruits are picked when green and unripe, and are traditionally

dried Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or another solvent by evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid. This process is often used as a final production step before selling or packaging products. To be consider ...

in the sun. When dry, they are brown and resemble large, smooth peppercorns. Fresh leaves are similar in texture to

bay leaves The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. It may come from several species of tr ...

and similarly used in cooking. Leaves and wood are often used for

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...

meats where allspice is a local crop. Care must be taken during drying to ensure that volatile oil, such as

eugenol Eugenol is an allyl chain-substituted guaiacol, a member of the allylbenzene class of chemical compounds. It is a colorless to pale yellow, aromatic oily liquid extracted from certain essential oils especially from clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, basil ...

, remains in the end products.

Uses

Allspice is one of the most important ingredients of Caribbean cuisine. Under the name ''pimento'', it is used in Jamaican jerk seasoning, and traditionally its wood was used to smoke jerk in Jamaica. In the West Indies, an allspice

liqueur A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyond ...

is produced under the name "

pimento dram Pimento dram (or allspice dram, pimento cordial, or allspice liqueur) is a Jamaican liqueur produced by steeping allspice ("pimento") berries in rum. The 2021 ''The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails'' states that pimento dram has been an ar ...

". In

Mexican cuisine Mexican cuisine consists of the cooking cuisines and traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican cuisine. Its ingredients and methods begin with the first agricultural communities such as the Olmec and M ...

, it is used in many dishes. Allspice is also indispensable in

Middle Eastern cuisine Middle Eastern cuisine or West Asian cuisine includes Arab, Armenian, Assyrian, Azerbaijani, Cypriot, Egyptian, Georgian, Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli, Kurdish, Lebanese, Palestinian and Turkish cuisines. Common ingredients include olives and ol ...

, particularly in the Levant, where it is used to flavour a variety of stews and meat dishes, as well as tomato sauce. In Arab cuisine, for example, many main dishes use allspice as the only spice. In northern European and North American cooking, it is an ingredient in commercial sausage preparations and curry powders, and in pickling. In the United States, it is used mostly in

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and ...

s, but it is also responsible for giving Cincinnati-style chili its distinctive aroma and flavor. Allspice is commonly used in Great Britain, and appears in many dishes. In Portugal, whole allspice is used heavily in traditional stews cooked in large terracotta pots in the Azores islands. Allspice is also one of the most used spices in Polish cuisine (used in most dishes, soups and stews) and is commonly known under the name English herb (). Allspice is an important part of

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and Finnish cuisine. Whole allspice is used to flavour soups as well as stews such as Karelian hot pot. Ground allspice is also be used in various dishes, such as minced meat sauces,

Swedish meatballs A meatball is ground meat rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many typ ...

, lutefisk and different cakes.

Cultivation and trade

The allspice tree, classified as an evergreen shrub, can reach in height. Allspice can be a small, scrubby tree, quite similar to the bay laurel in size and form. It can also be a tall canopy tree, sometimes grown to provide shade for coffee trees planted underneath it. It can be grown outdoors in the tropics and subtropics with normal garden soil and watering. Smaller plants can be killed by frost; larger plants are more tolerant. It adapts well to container culture and can be kept as a houseplant or in a

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

. Christopher Columbus discovered allspice on his second New World voyage, and the plant soon became part of European diets. At the time, it was found only on the island of Jamaica, where birds readily spread the seeds. To protect the pimenta trade, Jamaican growers guarded against export of the plant. Many attempts at growing the pimenta from seeds were reported, but all failed. Eventually, passage through the

avian Avian may refer to: *Birds or Aves, winged animals *Avian (given name) (russian: Авиа́н, link=no), a male forename Aviation *Avro Avian, a series of light aircraft made by Avro in the 1920s and 1930s *Avian Limited, a hang glider manufacture ...

digestive tract, whether due to the acidity or the elevated temperature, was found to be essential for

germinating Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fern ...

the seeds, and successful germination elsewhere was enabled. Today, pimenta grows in Tonga and in Hawaii, where it has become naturalized on

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

and

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

. Jamaica remains the leading source of the plant, although some is grown by other countries in the same region.

Notes

References

External links