Grains of Paradise

[diethx]

Why is melegueta pepper called grains of paradise? I've wiki'd and googled and all I can come up with is that it's from Western Africa and it was used a lot several centuries ago, and that it's put in beer etc. And that it has a very aromatic flavor with a bite. But is there another reason behind the name? Or is it just because it's delicious? Cuz I can't find anything else, and I doubt my professor would ask us to look it up if it was just named that cuz it was tasty.

[Warriorbird]

This is what I heard from my prof in undergrad and found on Google almost instantly. Learn2Internet.

;)


The name comes from Medieval spice traders looking for a way to inflate the price - it was claimed that these peppery seeds grew only in Eden, and had to be collected as they floated down the rivers out of paradise.

[diethx]

I actually used Yahoo search, not Google search. But it makes more sense to all when I say googled and not yahoo'd, lol. AND THANKS.

[Stanley Burrell]

If it has alkaloids in it, someone has done something with it to give it a funky name. Tied into ethnobotanics.

Right now, it says it increases lactate function. HURRAY FOR LACTATING!

[AestheticDeath]

yahoo < google

[Back]

Samuel Adams uses it for their Summer Ale. A fantastic brew by the way.

One simple search led me to this...

http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/grains-of-paradise?gclid=CMrNitDc_5UCFQVuswodLFPhFw


Grains of Paradise come from West Africa, where they grow on a leafy plant and are easily harvested. The name comes from Medieval spice traders looking for a way to inflate the price - it was claimed that these peppery seeds grew only in Eden, and had to be collected as they floated down the rivers out of paradise. Although Grains of Paradise are now rare and expensive, they used to be used as a cheaper substitute for black pepper. They have a zesty flavor reminiscent of pepper, with hints of flowers, coriander and cardamom.

Alton Brown seems to favor these for Okra, as seen on his recent show "Okraphobia", where he makes okra and tomatoes with grains of paradise. We LOVE them mixed with Tellicherry black pepper, put in a pepper grinder and then used to encrust steaks as slight variation on steak au poivre. Grind over any dish where you would normally just grind straight black pepper to add a wonderful shake-up-your-table-condiments twist!

A New York Times article written by Amanda Hesser has popularized grains of paradise. She wrote, "I put a few between my teeth and crunched. They cracked like coriander releasing a billowing aroma, and then a slowly intensifying heat, like pepper at the back of my mouth. The taste changes in a second. The heat lingered. But the spice flavor was pleasantly tempered, ripe with flavors reminiscent of jasmine, hazelnut, butter and citrus, and with the kind of oiliness you get from nuts. They were entirely different from black peppercorns and in my mind, incomparably better."

PS. WB beat me to it.

[Stanley Burrell]

This is what I heard from my prof in undergrad and found on Google almost instantly. Learn2Internet.

;)

Gabonese wetnursing is pretty closely tied into the very essence of Paradise. lrn2phyllotaxy!

[Warriorbird]

While that's noteworthy... it isn't the marketing stunt/name source.

;)