Cardamom: useful properties

Cardamom was known in ancient India. It is in the Indian book of Suturth, which was written around the 9th century BC, it was already written that cardamom can not only be a spicy seasoning for food, but also an excellent medicinal product. Also mention of the seasoning cardamom can be found in the writings of Theophastus, Hippocrates, Dyocorida. The first four grades of cardamom were described by Pliny. The great Portuguese navigator Barbosa first pointed to the true homeland of cardamom.

The birthplace of cardamom is the Malabar coast of India, the south of India, Sri Lanka and Ceylon. This perennial plant family of ginger grows on damp wooded slopes. As a spice eaten seeds or, more correctly, the fruits of this plant. Has a sharp, spicy-burning scent. What is useful cardamom? One seed of cardamom contains many useful substances: from 4 to 8% of essential oil, starch, fat, as well as trace elements and vitamins B1, B2, B3.

Cardamom is considered quite one of the most expensive seasonings after vanilla and saffron. And also one of the best stimulants for the digestive system is the same cardamom. Useful properties of this seasoning are widely used in cooking, as spice has a beneficial effect on digestion in general. Cardamom enters almost all the spice mixtures and is very well distributed in European and Russian cuisine. More, of course, it is used in confectionery products and fits well with the aroma of coffee, gives a certain piquancy to culinary products. Also it can be used in some sweet dishes, such as compotes, kissels. In addition, the amateur uses it for fish, fish soups and minced meat. Gives a good combination with nutmeg when cooking fish broth. And here, for example, in India, where spices are loved, cardamom, accompanied by no less harsh ingredients, such as garlic, onions and parsley, is served to a stewed chicken. In Europe it is added to peas and potato soups, to some salads and meat toppings. In China, cardamom is added to tea. And in Saudi Arabia, if you cooked coffee and added cardamom, it is considered a manifestation of hospitality. Also, cardamom is used in home tinctures and crockery, for flavor, giving the hop liquor a mysterious flavor.

Since cardamom flavor is quite sharp, it should be used with extreme caution. One seed, but it is pretty decent, it seems often on a box or on a capsule, it's enough for 1 kg of flour.

If we talk about such a seasoning as cardamom, its useful properties lie not only in the field of cooking, but also in the field of medicine. Even in ancient Rome and in ancient Greece, cardamom seeds were used to improve digestion, from headaches and against coughing. Nowadays, some doctors use cardamom for asthma and against headaches. Doctors recommend cardamom to increase appetite. Useful properties of this spice acts on the body as a restorative, anti-catarrhal, expectorant, stimulant, tonic, anti-inflammatory and anthelmintic. If you brew it in tea, then it can remove the feeling of nausea, heaviness in the stomach and serve as a tonic drink. And if you eat a couple of seeds, you can even stop vomiting. Recently, scientists, exploring the properties of cardamom and their effect on humans, came to this discovery that cardamom is an excellent tonic for the cardiovascular system, relieves depression and the first signs of neuralgia.

Cardamom - a few tips:

• When buying cardamom, one must turn to the integrity of the seed-boxes, since it is the whole seed-boxes that contain the whole fragrance, in any other variant, the odor evaporates;
• Seeds can be completely thrown into food, and finely grind - it all depends on what you are cooking;
• Cardamom with nutmeg will give your fish an unforgettable aroma.

There are contraindications to seasoning cardamom. Useful properties, oddly enough, do not always work. For example, this seasoning can have a negative effect on the course of pregnancy. Also it can not be eaten by people with individual intolerance, and also by those who suffer from stomach ulcers. The most important thing is not to forget about the feeling of the measure and to use cardamom in small quantities.

Of course, the first time cardamom can scare its sharp and at the same time rum pleasant aroma, but if it is used correctly, you can fall in love with it once and for all.