Secrets of Cardamom

If you have ever tasted cardamom, you will recognize the distinct flavor, which is used extensively in Indian and other exotic cuisines. The seed itself is the fruit of a plant from the ginger family, and it is popular used whole, or ground to a powder. If you do use the whole seed, however, make sure that you remove it from the dish before eating, as biting directly into a pod does not taste good! In India, where most of the world's cardamom comes from, cardamom is used mainly in curry. In Scandinavia, it is a popular flavoring for bread, and in fact is more popular than cinnamon in Sweden, and in Arabic countries, it is used as a flavoring for coffee. You can even use cardamom to flavor ice cream or other sweets, so this is definitely a spice worth expe rimenting with.