Allspice Powder

Profile: Allspice has a sweet and spicy flavor similar to cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. In the western hemisphere, it is the unripe fruit of an evergreen shrub found mostly in the Caribbean and Central America. Whole Pimenta dioica fruits are ground into powder to add complexity to spice blends and baking recipes. Also great in tonics, tinctures, and mulled drinks.Details: Evergreen shrub found in the Caribbean, southern Mexico, and Central America. The young plants are sensitive to frost, but mature to the size of large canopy trees. The spice is actually the plant's unripe fruit. After harvest, the fruits are dried to make the spice-like little brown berries. It's named after its complex flavor, which combines cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.A few years after Columbus' first voyage, the Spanish discovered allspice in the Caribbean. They brought it to Europe in the 1600s. Despite its popularity, it is rarely grown outside its native region. Allspice is native to the Western Hemisphere an