The fruit contains several seeds that when crushed produce the spice, cardamom. The seeds are highly aromatic and pungent. They are used to flavor cakes and pastries. According to the 1931 British bible on herbs and spices, The Modern Herb by Mrs. M. Grieve, the Egyptians have used the spice for years to flavor their coffees, while the Indians frequently chew it with betel. In France and the United States the oil is used in perfumes.
Modern day cooking typically mixes cardamom with orange flavors, cloves and caraway.
Expert chefs Sarah R. Labensky and Alan M. Hause recommend buying whole cardamom seeds and crushing them as needed, for crushed cardamom quickly loses its potency. This spice comes from large trees with strong branches and leathery leaves. Preferring sandy soils, plentiful rain and lots of shelter, the trees grow best in coastal settings such as Ceylon, South China, Sumatra, India and Jamaica. The bark from the branches is peeled and dried in the sun, then rolled into cigar shaped sticks, officially referred to as quills. Seventeenth and eighteenth century Europeans made good use of cinnamon to stop vomiting and hemorrhaging wounds.