Nutmeg syrup

Ingredients

The fruit

• 1 kgnutmeg pericarp
• the fleshy outer fruit
• sliced, seeds and mace removed

The syrup

• 700 gsugar
• 500 mlwater
• juice of 1 lime

Sometimes added

• 1cinnamon stick
• 2cloves
• a strip of lime peel

To serve

• over ice cream
• in rum drinks
• in soda water

Directions

1. Take out the seed with its red lace. Set both the seed and mace aside. Do not discard either of them. Slice the fleshy pericarp thinly. Thin slices give up their flavour faster. Slice them fairly thin for that. Cover all the slices with water.
2. Let them soak for about an hour. Put the drained slices in a pot. Add the measured water to them. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Simmering it takes about twenty minutes.
3. Let it simmer for about twenty minutes. The fruit should soften completely. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve. Press the pulp against the mesh. Do not push the pulp through though. Return the strained liquid to the pot.
4. Add all of the measured sugar to it. Warm it until the sugar dissolves. Stir it until the liquid runs clear. All the sugar must dissolve first. Add a cinnamon stick and cloves. Take them out before bottling. Bring the syrup right up to a boil. Let it boil for about twenty minutes. Twenty minutes gives a pourable syrup.
5. Keep children well away from the pan. Watch it to prevent boiling over. Drop a little onto a cold plate. Let it cool for a few seconds. Hot syrup is always thinner than cooled. Squeeze in all of the lime juice. It also stops the sugar crystallising.
6. Strain out all of the whole spices. Strain it through a fine sieve again. Let the syrup cool completely. Hot syrup in a sealed bottle creates pressure. Let the syrup cool right down first. Pour the cooled syrup into clean bottles.
7. Seal all of the bottles tightly. The high sugar content keeps it well. Discard it if it ferments or moulds. Pour it over vanilla ice cream. Stir it into rum with lime and ice. Or top it up with cold soda water.

Technique

• This syrup is made from the pericarp, the fleshy outer fruit, and not from the spice, and the distinction matters. Nutmeg the seed contains myristicin, which is genuinely toxic in large quantities and has caused documented poisonings, but at doses far beyond any culinary use. That concern attaches to the seed; this syrup uses a different part of the fruit, and the atlas states that rather than transplanting the warning across.
• The pericarp is the bulk of the fruit and was discarded at harvest for a long time, so using it addresses a real waste problem on an island whose main export crop is nutmeg. The seed and its red lace of mace are the valuable products and are set aside to dry; the pulp left after straining is kept for jam in Grenada rather than thrown away.
• Boiling syrup is far hotter than boiling water, sticks to skin and burns badly: never touch or taste it hot, keep children away from the pan, and watch it so it does not boil over. Test the thickness by dropping a little onto a cold plate and letting it cool for a few seconds, since hot syrup is always thinner than it will be cold.

Substitutions

• Soaking the sliced pericarp in water for an hour and discarding that water draws out some astringency and gives a smoother syrup; some cooks skip it entirely.
• A cinnamon stick, cloves or a strip of lime peel deepen the flavour and are strained out before bottling.

Variations

• Nutmeg is Grenada’s main export crop and appears on the national flag; Hurricane Ivan destroyed much of it in 2004 and the trees took years to recover.
• Press the pulp against the sieve to extract the liquid but do not push it through, which makes the syrup cloudy.
• Lime juice added off the heat at the end brightens the syrup and stops the sugar crystallising.

History

Uses the pericarp discarded when nutmeg and mace are harvested, a Grenadian answer to waste from its main crop.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nutmeg syrup?

Nutmeg syrup is a sauce & condiment from Grenada: syrup made from the fleshy nutmeg fruit, poured over ice cream and into drinks. Uses the pericarp discarded when nutmeg and mace are harvested, a Grenadian answer to waste from its main crop.

How long does Nutmeg syrup take to make?

Nutmeg syrup takes 30 minutes of preparation and 40 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 700 ml. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Nutmeg syrup?

Yes, within limits. Soaking the sliced pericarp in water for an hour and discarding that water draws out some astringency and gives a smoother syrup; some cooks skip it entirely. A cinnamon stick, cloves or a strip of lime peel deepen the flavour and are strained out before bottling.

What is the most important thing to get right in Nutmeg syrup?

Take out the seed with its red lace. Set both the seed and mace aside. Do not discard either of them. Slice the fleshy pericarp thinly. Thin slices give up their flavour faster. Slice them fairly thin for that. Cover all the slices with water.