Cardamom
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Description
Cardamom, also spelled cardamon, spice consisting of whole or ground dried fruits, or seeds, of elettaria cardamomum, a herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family (zingiberaceae). The seeds have a warm, slightly pungent, and highly aromatic flavour somewhat reminiscent of camphor. They are a popular seasoning in south asian dishes, particularly curries, and in scandinavian pastries.
The name cardamom is sometimes applied to other similar spices of the ginger family (amomum, aframomum, alpinia) used in cuisines of africa and asia or as commercial adulterants of true cardamoms.
Leafy shoots of the cardamom plant arise 1.5 to 6 metres (5 to 20 feet) from the branching rootstock. Flowering shoots, approximately 1 metre (3 feet) long, may be upright or sprawling; each bears numerous flowers about 5 cm (2 inches) in diameter with greenish petals and a purple-veined white lip. The whole fruit, 0.8 to 1.5 cm, is a green three-sided oval capsule containing 15 to 20 dark, reddish brown to brownish black, hard, angular seeds. The essential oil occurs in large parenchyma cells underlying the epidermis of the seed coat. The essential oil content varies from 2 to 10 percent; its principal components are cineole and α-terpinyl acetate.
