Aframomum melegueta
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| Grains of Paradise | ||||||||||||||
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Grains of Paradise (Aframomum melegueta), also called Melegueta Pepper and Guinea Pepper, is a spice that is relative of ginger, allspice and cardamom. Grains of Paradise are spicy, warm, and a little on the bitter side.
It is native to West Africa and it was very popular in medieval Europe. At the time pepper was expensive and the piquant, strong flavored brown seeds of Grains of Paradise were used as a substitute for pepper, since it gave a similar taste with less expense. The spice is called also with the names alligator-pepper and Guinea grains. The seeds are used not only to flavor food, but can be chewed on cold days to warm the body. Today it is used in Samuel Adams Summer Ale.
There is also a Malagueta pepper grown in Brazil which is a Capsicum.
References
- http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/profile_frutescens.html
- Katzer spice site (http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Afra_mel.html)Template:Food-stub