Clove

Syzygium aromaticum · laung · lobongo

A nail of spice — small, dark, and not to be crowded.

What it is

Cloves are the dried, unopened flower buds of a tropical tree — dark, nail-shaped, and intensely warm with a numbing, almost medicinal edge from their oil. A few go a long way; too many turn a dish sharp and bitter.

Where it comes from

Native to the Maluku ('Spice') Islands of Indonesia and now grown across the tropics, cloves were among the most fought-over spices of the trade era. They belong to the warm-spice register of the region's feast cooking.

What it's called

Clove · laung (Hindi) · lobongo (Bengali). Botanically Syzygium aromaticum.

In the kitchen

Whole cloves go into biryani, pulao and rich gravies and into garam masala; a few perfume the pot. Their oil (eugenol) is powerful, so they are counted, not spooned. Bloomed whole in hot oil at the start, or ground into a blend.

What we know about the claims

Clove oil's eugenol has a genuine folk-use as a toothache numbing agent, which anyone who has bitten a whole clove will understand; in cooking, cloves are a spice used in small numbers. No everyday caution beyond restraint.

Choosing and buying

Whole and ground everywhere (UK and US). Buy whole and plump — good cloves are oily enough to leave a mark when pressed. Ground stales fast.