Common Name: Allspice
Botanical Name: Pimenta dioica
General Information: Also known
as Jamaican Pepper, this West Indies herb is sort
of a hodgepodge of flavors that include cloves, cinnamon,
nutmeg, juniper and pepper. It is used extensively
in Caribbean cooking (much less so in other cultures,
although it does show up quite frequently in pickling
recipes). It's also used to make toiletries and liqueurs,
much better uses than what the Mayans used allspice
for: as an embalming agent.
Medicinal Uses: Allspice is used
extensively in the Caribbean to cure everything from
indigestion (crush the berries and make a tea) and
toothache to muscle pain (rub a combination of essential
oil and base oil into the muscle). The chemical ingredient
within allspice that allows it to treat these conditions
is called eugenol, which is added commercially to
over-the-counter toothache remedies.
