Cloves of good quality contain a high oil content and have closed buds. The spice grows on tropical evergreen trees that can live to be 75 to 100 years old. The taste of cloves is sunny, spicy, sharp/hot and leaves a narcotic sensation in the mouth.
Clove is a spice. Dark brown/red varieties originate mainly from Madagascar, Comoros, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Lighter brown varieties come from Tanzania, India, Zanzibar and Brazil. Verstegen only supplies the very best quality cloves, which currently come from Sri Lanka and Comoros. Cloves of good quality contain a high oil content and have closed buds. Quality cloves must have a long, thick shape and a brown colour.
The spice grows on tropical evergreen trees that can live to be 75 to 100 years old. The tree can reach a height of up to 25 metres. Cloves are the unripe flower buds of the tree, they are about 2.5 cm long and have thick stems. When harvested, they are olive green in colour and can change to reddish during ripening. After drying, the colour changes to red-brown to brown-black, depending on the variety and origin.
The taste of cloves is sunny, spicy, sharp/hot and leaves a narcotic sensation in the mouth. The smell of the spice is also very aromatic, with an initial sunny, characteristic smell.
Due to its sharp, warm and aromatic taste, this spice is excellent for use in stews, soups, salad dressings and sweet dishes. For example, the spice is widely used in traditional dishes such as stews, game dishes, red cabbage and in northern parts of Europe it is used in minced meat and sausages. Because cloves quickly disappear in stews, we recommend pricking the stalk into a whole onion and adding it to the dish in this way. Clove should be added to warm wine (mulled wine).
