Clove

“Tynanthus panurensis. Clove-scented vine bark sold in Peru as an aphrodisiac tonic. Safety: no human data at all.”

“Tradition: congestion, toothache, indigestion. The leaf oil is rich in eugenol, the same compound as in clove.”

“Clavo (clove). A clove held on an aching tooth, in the stew. A toothache is the dentist's.”

“Winter: warmth. Mutton and beef, ginger, cinnamon with cardamom, nutmeg and cloves, long-simmered soups, congee on cold mornings. Winter soups moisten the lungs or tonify the kidneys (Rehmannia, Eucommia: herbs, for the practitioner).”

“Warm: ginger (pungent), the warming root of the cold soup, the period tea and the month after childbirth. Garlic and onion (pungent). Mutton and beef, the warming red meats of winter. Cinnamon, with cardamom, nutmeg and cloves, the warming winter spices. Sesame oil, black sesame and red beans, from the confinement kitchen. Root vegetables and nuts, sweet, spicy and red-orange foods.”

“The texts' wind remedies. The Four Tantras name ingredients such as agarwood, nutmeg, cloves, asafoetida and molasses in remedies for wind. Ang can say what the texts list. He never turns it into a recipe. Nutmeg, so ordinary in a European kitchen, is poisonous in large amounts.”

“Medicine: remedies that taste sweet, sour or salty, with oily, heavy or smooth qualities. Agarwood, nutmeg, cloves, asafoetida and molasses are among the ingredients named.”

“The pink water. The colour comes from pathimugham. Most sources say this is sappan wood (chappangam), and one says the original was a Himalayan cherry wood, replaced by sappan because it was costly to bring from the Himalayas. The mixes also hold dry ginger, cardamom, cloves, coriander, cumin or vetiver.”

“How it is made, as the inventory describes it. The beans are roasted over a charcoal kanun in a qallaya pan, until the smoke fills the yard. They are pounded in a funduk, a mortar decorated with metal discs that rattle, so the whole street hears that coffee is coming. The coffee is boiled in a sharaghragh, then brewed in the jabana itself, the clay flask that gives the drink its name. Ginger, cinnamon or cardamom go in when the guest asks. Cloves belong more to the Eritrean and Ethiopian cup.”

“Weeks 3-8: Add black walnut + wormwood + clove combination. Pulse: 2 weeks on, 1 week off.”

“Tier 2: Mimosa pudica seed, black walnut hull, wormwood, clove (herbal protocol), binders (charcoal, bentonite), castor oil packs, infrared sauna, chlorella”