Allspice is much loved, if perhaps often misunderstood spice. People often mistake it for various spices that have similar flavours and aromas. For instance, if you’ve ever found yourself enjoying a slightly sweet and nutty piece of roast chicken or a slightly spicy dessert dish, there’s a good chance allspice was one of the main ingredients in there.
What is allspice and what does it taste like?
While the name sounds like that of a spice mix or a blend, allspice is actually a single spice made from the dried and unrepented berries of the Pimenta dioica tree. While the tree is native to the Caribbean and Central America, it has since been exported and cultivated widely for its spice.
Allspice is one of the more complex tasting spices available. The flavour is similar to cinnamon, cloves, pepper and nutmeg. Some people find it tastes more like one of those flavours, while others have described it as a combination of all of the above. In any case, it offers a little bit of a spicy bite as well as a more musky or smoky flavour.
Typically, allspice is ground before being added to recipes. This brings out a more intense clove-like flavour and is well-suited for most recipes. However, the whole berry can also be used in pickling, soups and stews.
Why is it called allspice if it's only one spice?
The name was likely given to the spice in the early 1600s when British explorers first tried it and named it "allspice" because it tasted like so many others combined into a single spice. According to some accounts, when Europeans first tried it, they may have also assumed incorrectly that it was a combination of various spices from the Americas. Curiously, early Spanish explorers also mistook the spice, thinking that it was a kind of pepper and that's where the botanical name "pimenta" comes from.
What cuisines use it and how do I cook with it?
Allspice popular in Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Latin American cooking. Arguably, its most well-known is its prominent use in Jamaican jerk seasoning, which is liberally applied to chicken and then grilled or smoked. It's also used to produce some Jamaican liqueurs.
You can also find allspice frequently added to Mexican and Middle Eastern and Arabic Cuisine, such as some Syrian rice dishes or Moroccan stews. It's also not uncommon to find the spice as the primary flavour in certain cakes and other deserts.
