What is mace? All about nutmeg’s lesser known twin, how cooks use it and a recipe idea

I am not sure why mace is not as well known as its twin, nutmeg. The two spices come from the fruit of the Myristica fragrans tree – mace is the seed coating and nutmeg the seed. But while nutmeg is quite common – which cook, after all, does not have a nutmeg in the spice cupboard for grating onto eggnog or adding to a béchamel sauce? – mace is not. The two spices are prised together out of the fruit, and the mace, which tightly surrounds the nutmeg, is removed. When processed, nutmeg is a hard kernel that is easy to grate. The thin, delicate piece of mace remains flexible and leathery, which makes it hard to grate – I have tried without success to use a rasp grater, a hand-cranked spice grinder and an electric grinder. If you are not using the mace whole, in stews or braised dishes, it is better to buy ground mace and store it in an airtight jar in the freezer. As with all pre-ground spices, the flavour and fragrance will fade over time. Mace is used in alternative medicine, to treat digestive disorders, insomnia and anxiety. Like nutmeg, mace goes well in milk-based dishes. For a sleep-inducing pre-bedtime drink, heat some milk in a saucepan (or in the microwave) and sweeten it with a little honey. Add some grated mace, then drink it hot. Ground mace is delicious in spice cakes, where it is often combined with ground cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Whole pieces of mace can be mixed with cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, cumin and coconut milk, then used to braise mutton or goat. Pain d’épices There are a lot of pain d’epices recipes out there and, apart from the insistence on using rye flour, they can differ enormously. Some of them call for ground spices, others have you infuse whole spices in milk. Some are very lean doughs, with very little fat other than egg yolks, while others add butter. I have even seen a recipe that uses olive oil. This recipe is based on one by M.F.K. Fisher in her 1937 collection of essays, Serve It Forth, although I add milk and butter to make it less dry. The American writer lived in the French city of Dijon, which is famous for its pain d’epices (among other things). Her recipe is more of a guideline, especially where the spices are concerned, so I make it according to my own tastes, and so should you. This one is quite subtly spiced, so add more if you like. I usually bake the dough in loaf pans and serve it in thin slices. When it is stale (even drier than usual) it is delicious toasted and spread with softened butter, which melts into the bread, and a thin smear of jam or marmalade. As an alternative to loaves, I sometimes scoop the dough into mini muffin moulds and, just before baking, add a small dollop of jam or marmalade and press it down gently. As it bakes, the dough will rise up and surround the jam, so each “muffin” will have a moist, sweet core. This makes three loaves, which can be frozen, or you can halve the recipe. Ingredients 1kg honey (I use eucalyptus or rosemary honey) 350 grams rye flour 650 grams bread flour 5 grams fine sea salt 200ml whole milk 6 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed 2 mace blades 8 white peppercorns, lightly crushed 1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces 1 star anise, broken into pieces 1 tsp black mustard seeds, lightly crushed 1 tsp ginger powder 15 grams baking powder 2 tsp baking soda, sieved 3 eggs 1 egg yolk 100 grams unsalted butter, melted Method 1. Put the honey (still in its glass jar) in a bowl and add hot (close to boiling) water. As the water cools, pour it off and add more hot water – the idea is to heat the honey gently, so it becomes a warm, runny liquid. 2. When the honey has reached that stage, put the rye and bread flours in a large mixing bowl, preferably the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, and pour it over them. Add the sea salt and stir gently to mix thoroughly. Leave this mixture to cool. 3. Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the cardamom, mace, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, star anise and mustard seeds. Place the pan over a low flame until the milk simmers, then remove it from the heat. 4. Leave it to cool, then pour the ingredients through a fine sieve placed over a bowl; press on the spices in the sieve to extract as much flavour as possible. 5. Add the ginger powder, baking powder and baking soda into the bowl holding the flour and honey. Stirring constantly, add the infused milk. Whisk the eggs with the egg yolk and slowly stir them into the dough. Add the melted butter and mix until thoroughly incorporated. 6. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius (320 Fahrenheit). Spray three loaf tins with pan coating then line the bottom and sides as smoothly as possible with aluminium foil. Fill the loaf pans halfway with the dough, which will be very stiff and sticky. 7. Bake at 160 degrees for about an hour, or until the loaves are fragrant and firm to the touch; if you insert a cake tester in the centre of the loaf, it should come out clean. 8. Cool the loaves completely before turning them out of the pans. Serve the pain d’epices in thin slices. This content previously appeared in Post Magazine in 2014.

What is mace? All about nutmeg’s lesser known twin, how cooks use it and a recipe idea

From the same fruit as nutmeg, mace is harder to grate but goes similarly well in cakes and milk-based dishes. It can also be used in stews