Cardamom Arabic: Hal, Hail(Ginger Family)
Today, cardamom ranks right behind coffee, sugar and banana as an agricultural export. And Saudi Arabia consumes the bulk of the cardamom in the world…a sweet camphorous and highly aromatic spice widely used as an additive in coffee. In fact, cardamom coffee (al-qahwah al-arabiyah or qahwat al-hail in Arabic) is a nearly universal symbol of hospitality on the Arabian Peninsula. About 1550 BC, The Ebers Papyrus of Egyptians (pharmacological document) provides evidence that Egyptians were already using cardamom in medicine, cosmetic ointments, perfumes and aromatic oils and embalmimg. In India, remains a major exporter , cardamom was sometimes prescribed, along with cinnamon, ginger and turmeric to remove fat and cure jaundice and urinary infections.
The Indian Ayuverdic system of medicine recommended that spices such as cardamom be wrapped in bettel nut leaves and chewed after meal to increase the flow of saliva, help digestion and eliminate bad breath, and millions of Indians do precisely that today. In Europe, it was first appeared after the scientist attached to the staff of Alexander the Great sent it back from India in the Fourth Century BC.
Did you know?: 1. Cardamom is one of the most expensive spices in the world. This is because each individual fruit pod containing the desired seed spice must be harvested from its flower stalk by hand.
2. Cardamom was one of the most popular Oriental spices in ancient Roman cuisine.
3. Ground cardamom can soften a plastic spoon left in it for several days.
Source: Saudi Aramco World September/October 2006 Excerpt from Natural Remedies of Arabia Authors: Robert W. Lebling and Donna Pepperdine
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