CLOVES WHOLE – (ORGANIC CHAI SUPPLIES)

Cloves are used extensively in Middle Eastern, north African, Chinese (in their ‘5 spice powder’) and Indian cuisine.3 It is also indispensable in ‘chai,’ a spicy Indian tea which also contains cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, black peppercorn and black tea and also in garam masala, an Indian culinary spice used in curries, containing turmeric and a variety of other spices.3 The strong flavor of cloves isn’t as appreciated in other countries and is mainly used as a flavoring in various baked goods such as gingerbread.3 Interestingly, cloves are not used much for cooking in their native homeland of the Molucca Islands, but rather are extremely popular as cigarettes.3 In Ayurveda (system of traditional healing in India), clove, referred to as ‘lavanga,’ has not only been used in the kitchen, but has been employed as a medicinal herb to support digestion, soothe nausea, to support lung health, and is thought to be a highly effective carminative. It is considered to be an energetically hot herb having a pungent taste and therefore most useful in cold or stagnant conditions.2 Likewise in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), clove is considered a warming herb that breaks up stagnant energy by encouraging chi (energy) flow, and is used to support the kidney, spleen, and stomach meridians.13