The dried unripe berry of a Caribbean tree, named in English for tasting like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves at once. The backbone of Jamaican jerk and a quiet force in Christmas baking.
What it is¶
Allspice is the dried berry of Pimenta dioica, an evergreen tree of the myrtle family, the same family as cloves. The berries are picked green and fully grown but unripe, then dried in the sun until they turn a dull reddish brown. Ripe berries lose most of their aroma, which is why the spice is always harvested early.
Each berry is roughly the size of a large peppercorn, with a slightly wrinkled skin and two seeds inside. Most of the flavour sits in the shell rather than the seeds. In Jamaica, which has long been the most famous source, the spice and the tree are both called pimento, and in older British books you will also see "Jamaica pepper". It is not related to black pepper or to the chillies, despite the Spanish name pimienta.
Origins and history¶
The tree is native to the Caribbean and the mainland from southern Mexico into Central America. The Maya are reported to have used it, among other things, in embalming, and it was in wide local use when Spanish explorers arrived. Columbus's expeditions, looking for pepper, took the berries for a kind of pepper, and the name pimienta stuck. It travelled to Europe as part of the Columbian exchange.
The English name "allspice" dates from the early seventeenth century and records exactly what Europeans thought of it: one spice that seemed to combine several. Jamaica became the dominant exporter under British rule, and attempts to establish the tree commercially elsewhere in the tropics largely failed: seedlings are fussy, and the tree does best in the limestone hills of its home region. Jamaican allspice is still generally considered the finest, with a high oil content.
Flavour and aroma¶
The dominant note is eugenol, the same compound that gives cloves their numbing warmth, so allspice reads first as clove. Behind that come peppery, slightly resinous and sweet notes that people describe as cinnamon and nutmeg, although neither compound is really present in quantity. It is warmer and rounder than cloves and far less aggressive, which is why cooks use it more freely.
Freshly ground berries are much brighter than pre-ground powder, which flattens into a generic "mixed spice" warmth within months.
In the kitchen¶
Allspice straddles sweet and savoury more comfortably than almost any other spice.
- Jamaican cooking. It is the essential spice in jerk, ground with scotch-bonnet chillies, spring onion and thyme; authentic jerk is also smoked over pimento wood. It goes into escovitch fish, Jamaican patties and many stews across Caribbean cooking.
- British baking. It is one of the core ingredients in mixed spice, and turns up in Christmas pudding, mince pies, fruit cakes and spiced buns.
- Pickling. Whole berries are standard in pickling spice for onions, red cabbage and soused herrings.
- Northern Europe. Swedish meatballs, Scandinavian pickled herring and many German sausages use it.
- The Middle East. It is a common component of baharat and is used in Levantine rice, stuffed vegetables and kibbeh.
- The United States. It appears in pumpkin pie spice and Cincinnati chili.
For a stew for four, 6–8 whole berries or ½ tsp ground is a good starting point. Whole berries can be fished out; ground allspice stays in the dish, so use it more carefully. A few berries in a pepper mill with black peppercorns makes a good everyday seasoning for meat.
Buying and storing¶
Buy whole berries where you can. They keep their aroma for two to three years in an airtight jar away from light and heat, and are easy to grind in a pepper mill or spice grinder. Ground allspice fades noticeably within six months. Good berries are deep brown, dry and fragrant when crushed between the fingers; very pale or dusty berries are old.
Substitutes¶
A mixture of equal parts ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves is the classic stand-in: use ½ tsp of the mix for each ½ tsp allspice, leaning on the cloves for savoury dishes and cinnamon for baking. Mixed spice also works in cakes. In jerk there is no real substitute.
Pairs well with¶
thyme, scotch-bonnet, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, black pepper, bay, orange, rum, pork, beef, lamb, red cabbage, beetroot, apples, pumpkin, dried fruit.
Did you know¶
📌 Two trees, one name
The related bay rum tree, Pimenta racemosa, has aromatic leaves that are distilled for bay rum, the old barber's aftershave. Its leaves are sometimes sold as "West Indian bay", which is not the bay leaf of European cooking.
Pimento dram, a Jamaican liqueur made by steeping allspice in rum, is an old ingredient in tiki drinks, and allspice is widely reported to be among the botanicals in several herbal liqueurs.