The Spice Island & Nutmeg
Grenada is an island country, consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the south-eastern Caribbean Sea. The island is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela and southwest of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Grenada is approximately 20 miles long by 12 miles wide. The majority of the locals are of African origin, the descendants of slaves brought over to work on European-owned plantations. Although Grenada became an independent country in 1974, it has retained an identity deeply rooted in European culture. Many street names, neighbourhoods and bays have French influence, while the currency (Eastern Caribbean dollar) pays tribute to the Queen of England and British English is taught in schools. The local customs, language, food, religion and architecture are a rich blend of each of these different influences, lending a unique flavour to the culture of Grenada.
Grenada is a leading producer of several different spices. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mace, allspice, orange/citrus peels, wild coffee, used by the locals, and especially nutmeg, providing 20 per cent of the world supply, are all important exports.
One of Grenada’s oldest and largest nutmeg plantations, Dougaldston Spice Estate, is a rustic operation where local workers demonstrate how the island’s spices are grown and processed. Visitors can also buy bags of nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon and cloves. Near Dougaldston Spice Estate is the Gouyave Nutmeg Processing Station, the largest facility on the island, where workers sort and pack nutmeg and share interesting facts about Grenada’s famous spice.
“So what is so special about nutmeg and mace?”
The fruit is so very versatile! The fruit itself is made into jams, liqueur and syrup; the syrup can be added to fruit salads, eaten with pancakes and you can baste chicken with it.
Mace, which is around the fruit’s kernel, turns up in lipstick and nail varnish, as well as in most of the world’s sausages.
The shell of the kernel is used as mulch, as gravel and as fuel for burning.
The nutmeg inside the kernel yields an essential oil, as well as being a spice. It is used in aromatherapy massages for rheumatism and arthritis, and as inhalation oil, like in Vicks vapo-rub. Not bad for one fruit!
