Long before cloves found their way to the west and became one of the most profitable trades in the Indian Ocean, the spices native to Maluku Islands, Indonesia had made their place in Chinese history when, during the Han Emperor of the 3rd century, they were used as breath fresheners. It was recorded in the literature that anyone who was to meet with the Emperor must chew cloves first to sweeten their breath.
For centuries the secret of cloves remained guarded until the first Portuguese explorer set foot in Maluku Islands and uncovered the hidden gem. They brought large quantities of it to Europe and dominated the trade.
There had been an intense fighting between the Portuguese and the Spanish, who apparently had set foot in Maluku Islands as well and were longing for the cloves. However, in the middle of the 17th century, the Dutch took over and gained a long lasting control of the highly prized spices.
To keep the price high, the Dutch East India Company only allowed a limited amount of cloves to be exported. In addition to that, to create a monopoly over the spice trade, any clove tree that was not owned by the company was ordered to be destroyed.
Thankfully, during the uprooting of the trees, one was a miss. Rested on the other side of the mountain, the surviving tree, which was then called The Avo Cloves, played an important role in ending the Dutch monopoly.
Today, despite having been introduced to other countries many years ago, 80% of the world’s cloves supplies still come from Indonesia.
THE BENEFITS OF CLOVES
In the early days, cloves were mainly used for cooking and were the flavoring for ketchup and sauces. Their strong spicy and smoky flavor enriches the Indian and Mexican cuisines, and it has become a signature taste.
Aside from cuisine, cloves are smoked as cigarettes in Indonesia, which is called Kretek, and is one of the key ingredients in tea along with green cardamoms.
Cloves are now also used in perfume and essential oil, which is known as Clove Oil. It has medicinal benefits with its antiseptic, analgesic, and anesthetic properties.
The largest producing countries of clove oil are Madagascar and Indonesia.
There are so many more benefits that cloves can give, making it still one of the most sought after spices around the world.