Spice in the Spotlight
The queen of spices, better known as cardamom, is a spice with numerous applications, being just as well suited in desserts and drinks as in savoury dishes. It is therefore a spice widely used in such blends. Euroma has long sourced its finest cardamom from Guatemala. So this year we once again travelled there during and immediately after cardamom harvest to visit our farmers and maintain our relationship with them. But also to carry out audits. That’s how we ensure not only the quality but also the integrity of our ingredients. The main city in Guatemala’s cardamom-growing region is Cobán. We visited several farmers in the area, inspecting their fields and plants. 
Cardamom consists of the green, unripe seed pods of the herbaceous cardamom plant. These large shrubs grow at our farms in Guatemala at about 1,000 meters above sea level and are cared for there with great dedication.
The pods are hand-picked, with a sensitive touch required to see if they ready for picking. This makes the process of harvesting labour intensive. The factories dry the pods using turbines, then clean and sort them for quality, colour and size. Good quality pods are green and dense so that flavours are well preserved.
Finally, the pods are heat-treated and also ground if necessary in our factory in Zwolle using the Prima Pura treatment, which kills off micro-organisms and ensures the food safety of our products.
During cooking, the flavours and aromas come alive once the pods are bruised for use in stews and the like. Cardamom is widely used in such things as cakes, pastries, desserts and curries. So cardamom is flexible and versatile but at the same time complicated and difficult to use. This is mainly because the flavour is overpowering. But with the right dosage, they release a delicious spicy flavour that is fresh and citrus-like with a strong undertone of eucalyptus. And the great thing is, eating cardamom has beneficial effects on digestion.
Read further details on Euroma’s (ground) cardamom in this brochure. Contact our Herbs & Spices team for more information by sending an email to info@euroma.com.
