Filled pasta, cold cuts, sauces, vegetables, desserts, and even cappuccino: a long list of food preparations can be enriched with the characteristic pungent aroma and slightly sweet and warm taste of nutmeg, to the point that this spice, together with pepper, chili, and garlic, cannot fail in any well-stocked kitchen.
Nutmeg is also among the most expensive spices, due to the high flavouring power of its remarkable content of volatile oil, and to the laborious production process.
It is commonly used in pasta filling and sauces
As the food industry buys ground nutmeg and not whole ones, how can a professional buyer assess its intrinsic quality, and make sure that his company’s money is wisely invested? It is quite simple: the purchased product must comply with both following specifications that in turn must appear on the technical data sheet:
- product name: “100% seed of Myristica fragrans, ground”;
- value of volatile oil: “at least 5% (normally 5% to 7%) in the ground, sterilized product.
(This value must be checked upon delivery of the related material)”.
As you read on, you will understand why this information makes the difference.
to be continued
