Evening star., 1941-12-11
Majority Of
Spices Still
Plentiful
Modern Kitchens
Not Yet Affected
BY Shortage
By Dorothy Murray

By Dorothy Murray
The housewife spending an aver
age of only 10 cents annually for
spice, may never realize there Is
spice shortage because 1t ex-
tends mainly to spices less familiar
to the ordinary supply shelf. For
instance, there is no difficulty IN
obtaining ginger, cloves, cinnamon.
nutmeg. pepper. mace, allspice, chilli
powder ard even the more "exclu-
sive" spices such as gumbo file and
oregano which is technically Mex
lean sage.
The buyer will undoubtedly notice
that the packages are slightly small
er than before and selling for the
same price. The spice experts point
out that this will be a culinary
benefit, rather than loss, as spices
should be fresh to have flavor and
by being packaged in small boxes
they will not be kept on the shell
long enough for the favor to be-
come dead. 1t Is best to renew
ground spices at least every six
months for the best results.
Pepper accounts for 40 per cent
Of our spice imports and we have
enough of it on hand to last three
years should all Zanzibar and Meth
erlands Indies supplies be shut of.
The reason for this stock on hand is
the fact that pepper has always
been q popular trading commodity
and that New York is now the pep
per trading center Of the entire
world.
You might have noticed q rise
IN price OF cinnamon. In this cou1-
try we do not use true cinnamon
as the favor is too sweet. Instead
we use the cassia bark from .
botanically different plant. This
cassia, or cinnamon, comes from
the federated Malay states and to
reach the nearest American port
of call must pass through part OF
Indo-China, to get to Hong Kong.
II necessary, we could raise every
known herb and spice in the West
ern Hemisphere. Some of our herbs
are coming in from South Amer
lea, mainly Chill and Peru, and there
Is at present a general shortage.
These are namely bayleaves, sage
and marjoram.
Prices for formerly premium
Netherland spices such as cloves, nut
meg and mace. have declined be-
cause the Dutch have lost their
European markets. Nutmeg, ginger,
mace and paprika come from our
own West Indies. A fine ginger,
for instance. comes up from Jamaica
and generations ago the Dutch nut
meg was first grown in our own
Indies successfully. That area has
long been a regular source of our
supply.
The United States consumes more
mustard both dried and prepared
than any other spice except, OF
course, pepper. Mustard seed used
to come from Denmark, Holland,
Germany, France and England, and
virtually no imports are now coming
in. This, however, is not serious
because 10 years ago . few FORE
sighted growers began raising Amer
lean mustard in our own South
west and last year we produced
more mustard seed in the United
States than ever was imported.
Chill and American curry are
native to the Americas. 1t Is in
teresting to note that the Army
Is now buying thousands of tons
to flavor the soldiers soups and
stews. Poppyseed and caraway are
both on the short side, but can and
do grow here. These spices are
being secured from the Middle West
ern farmers in small quantities and
mostly from an herb garden meant
only for family Use.
The Government is now expert
menting with the domestic growing
Of sage in Greenbelt, Md, and is
successfully growing the really
tropical spices, such Is cloves and
cinnamon. at special project In
Puerto Rico.