Published on 5th November 2017 at 22:09 • No comments yet, be the first!
Grenada! A small country in the south of the Caribbean with a population of about 100,000 in around 350 square kilometres of land. To put that into perspective, the small city of Bath (first home of The Spicery) has a population of just under 100,000 people, in an area about a 10th of the size.
My dad and I took a trip out to Grenada in July, the height of rainy season.
The few times I've been to the Island I've noticed the huge quantities of dried spices and unfamiliar fruits (wax apple pictured!) sold at the morning markets. Men and women will call from little stalls on the side of the road- shielding themselves from the sun (and sudden rain showers) with bright umbrellas.
The atmosphere of the market is bustling but with this sleepy and relaxed quality. No-one moves too fast here, and I think it might simply be too hot to!
I learnt quickly to not put time constraints on the day's activities, it all just works better if you relax into the Island's slow rhythm of life.
Though I had always seen nutmeg as the defining spice of Grenada (it features on the national flag), I had never really ventured to find out exactly which other spices were being sold or how any are grown or harvested.
Three spices in particular are often used together in cooking on the island. One popular use is in the famous 'Cocoa Tea', which is like a sweet spiced hot chocolate drink commonly served at breakfast. Handmade balls of cocoa infused with the spices were sold at every market and supermarket. In the mornings they're dissolved in water over the stove and sweetened with plenty of condensed milk.
The Gouyave nutmeg processing station is the largest on the Island, in a small fishing village on the west coast.
I had a look at the different processes going on in the huge factory- from the mace grading to sorting through the nutmeg.
Mace is bought dried, either as No.1, No.2 or No.3 in quality. No.1 is the better quality, dark red, unbroken, dried and unblemished.
The nutmeg is sent all over the world in large sacks, all hand stencilled for their destination.