Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/1832

1642 from 15 to 20 feet. The berries are not allowed to ripen, but are gathered green, dried in the sun, and then become black. The berries combine the flavour of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, hence the name.

Angelica (Fr.—Angelique).—Although the seeds of this plant are largely used in the preparation of certain liqueurs, it is chiefly in its candied form that this aromatic herb or plant is known to us. In the northern parts of Europe the leaf stalks are peeled and eaten raw as a great delicacy. The root, as well as the leaves and seeds, have been employed for medicinal purposes. From its supposed properties as a specific against poison and witchcraft, it was formerly called the "angelic" plant.

Cayenne (Fr.—Poivre de Guinée). This is the acrid and stimulating spice with which we are acquainted. It is a powder prepared from several varieties of the Capsicum, annual East India plants, of which there are three so far naturalized in this country as to be able to grow in the open air; these are extremely pungent to the taste, and in the green state are used by us as a pickle. When ripe, they are ground into cayenne pepper, and sold as a condiment. The best cayenne, however, is made in the West Indies from the Bird pepper, so named because of the partiality of hens and turkeys to the berry. It is imported ready for use. Of the Capsicum species of plants there are five; but the principal are: (1) Capsicum annum, the common long-podded Capsicum, cultivated in our gardens, of which there are two varieties, one with red, and another with yellow fruit. (2) Capsicum baccatum, or Bird pepper, which rises with a shrubby stalk 4 or 5 feet high, with its berries growing at the division of the branches; this is small, oval-shaped, and of a bright-red colour, from which, as already stated, the best cayenne is made. (3) Capsicum grossum, the bell-pepper; the fruit of this is red, and is the only kind fit for pickling.

Cinnamon (Fr.—cannelle). The cinnamon tree (Laurus Cinnamomum) is a valuable and beautiful species of the laurel family, and grows to the height of 20 or 30 feet. It is believed to have been originally grown in Ceylon, where it is still largely cultivated. It also grows in Madras, Bombay, and Java. The trunk of the tree is short and straight, with wide-spreading branches, and it has a smooth, ash-like bark. The inner bark forms the cinnamon of commerce. When the branches are 3 years old they are stripped of their outer bark, the inner bark is dried, causing it to shrivel up and assume the quilt-like form in which it is imported. The best cinnamon is rather light in colour, and not much thicker than paper. Besides being used extensively for culinary purposes, cinnamon is much employed as a powerful stimulant.

Cloves (Fr.—Girofle).—This very agreeable spice is the dried flowerbuds of the Caryophyllus aromaticus, a handsome branching tree, a native of the Malacca Islands. They take their name from the Latin word clavus, or the French clou, both meaning a nail, to which the