Growing up, I never knew there was such a thing as grated FRESH nutmeg. Mom always used a little tin of Durkee ground nutmeg when making her Thanksgiving pies; I assumed this was nutmeg in its natural state. In later years, as I began to expand my culinary horizons, I did some reading and discovered that nutmeg, in its natural state, is actually a round little pit from an edible fruit. The fruit that produces nutmeg, comes from an evergreen tree that is cultivated in the West Indies. The same fruit that produces nutmeg also produces mace, which is a lacy covering over the nutmeg seed kernel.
Ground nutmeg has a mellow, earthy scent and tastes fairly mild when compared to stronger spices like cinnamon or clove. Fresh nutmeg produces a whole other range of fragrance and flavor, when compared to its dry component. You can taste citrus and vanilla notes in freshly grated nutmeg, that you can’t detect in ground nutmeg out of the jar. And, whole nutmeg is a lot easier to find now, than it used to be. I usually get my whole nutmeg at Whole Foods Market, or by mail order from Penzeys.com.
How to grate nutmeg; well, your standard box grater that you use for cheese might not cut it. There are special nutmeg spice mills (much like a peppermill), where you pop the nutmeg kernel in, turn a crank, and voila—fresh nutmeg. I had one of these, and it didn’t work nearly as well as a good Microplane did. For under $10, any Microplane with a fine grate will do nicely, although Microplane does make a grater specific to grinding spices.
So, buy yourself a whole nutmeg—or several, and a grater. Try some freshly grated nutmeg in your next apple pie, atop your cappuccino, even in pancake or waffle batter. Even compare ground nutmeg to fresh ground—I’m sure you’ll find as I did, that there’s just no comparison!
Chefker
