Cloves

Cloves are the dried aromatic flower buds from an evergreen tree native to Indonesia from the Myrtaceae family. We've seen these "nail-like" spikes of clove driven into Ham, Oranges, and other foods for the aromatic flavor and fragrance and in fact the common name Clove is derived from the Latin, Clavus, which means nail. This spice has been traded for centuries and has been a staple of Indian cooking in dishes through the spice blend garam masala from Northern India, and biryani from Southern India. It is also used in masala chai, which is now quite popular in the United States sold as Chai or Chai Tea. In Britain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, cloves were worth at least their weight in gold, due to the high price of importing them. This spice inspired explorers and Royalty to seek out new trade routes to South East Asia.