Myristica fragrans
Nutmeg and mace. Pala in Indonesia.Once these trees only grew on the Banda Islands in the Moluccas.
The dutch waged bloody wars for control of this spice and the Banda Islands, even exterminating the native population.
The profit range was about 600 times, when there was rumour in Europe that nutmeg would be the only remedy against the black death.
Nowadays Indonesia is still a main producer and a good nut costs about 1,40 Euro here.
No idea what the peasants get or what the price in Indo shops.
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I am not sure how much is the price of a kilo of Pala. My father grew two Pala trees in his house backyard. I might take a photo of it and post it on blog.
Anyway, as I am not really into candies, here is how we "process" the Pala:
(1) Wash the fruits
(2) Peel the skin
(3) Take out the seed
(3) Cut the rest into small pieces
(4) Boil water
(5) Put in sugar and a little bit salt
(6) Put all the small pieces of Pala in
(7) Keep it boiling for less than 5 minutes
(8) Cool it..
You can drink the Pala syrup and the cooked Pala pieces. Taste better with ice.
As for the seeds, you can dried them under the sun heat. Then use as food spice.
Oh! Wow.....
The only use I have for nutmeg is to sprinkle it on an egg nog, the kind made with raw eggs, sugar and milk.