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.