Talk:Cardamom

heba?
Is the word "heba" in the first paragraph a mistake? I can't find any definition or comparable use of the word. 68.165.88.91 21:38, 1 May 2007 (UTC)

Culinary uses of cardamom
Just out of interest, can cardamom be eaten raw? I think the answer is yes, but I believe that this is a spice from the ginger family that is more commonly eaten cooked. ACEO 15:37, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

It can be chewed raw. It is commonly chewed raw to freshen breath, in eastern countries. It was customary to carry the seeds in a small silver box, for this purpose. Chewing raw cardamom is an effective remedy for heartburn, 2 seeds generally sufficing.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.125.207.182 (talk) 04:22, 5 June 2016 (UTC)

Well, I have done my own research into this question now, and it appears that the answer is yes, although obviously, one does not eath the shells of the pods! I had some raw cardamom with my breakfast this morning, so if I do not live to continue to contribute to Wikipedia, you will know the answer! ACEO 10:32, 14 May 2006 (UTC)I am still here, so the answer must be yes!ACEO 15:35, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

"the shells" - the thin paper surrounding the pods is usually not removed before grinding or eating. (There's no reason. It's softer than the seeds themselves, it has similar qualities to the seed, it's not worth the effort of removing, would be more likely to peel a grape or a tomato.) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Drsruli (talk • contribs) 16:09, 6 July 2020 (UTC)

I removed the part which says black cardamom is a Chinese plant... I thought black cardamom was just the seeds themselves, with the pod removed? dave 21:25, 6 Oct 2003 (UTC)


 * Nope. Black and green are two different types of pods. Graft 21:41, 6 Oct 2003 (UTC)
 * Green cardamom is Elettaria cardamomum; black cardamom is usually Amomum subulatum. Mark Nesbitt 10:41, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

It is to be noted that if India is the first producers of cardamom, Guatemala is its first exporter. Pierre 09/06/2005

27/10/2005 Please help me I want to collect any formation about the collectio and preparation of Cardamom amr_pharma83@yahoo.com

29/12/05 I changed a couple instances of 'cardamon' to 'cardamom' in the article and added 'cardamon' as an alternate spelling at the top of the article. If there's a different protocol for alternate spellings that I'm not aware of, feel free to change it. Lapunkd
 * Tidied spelling further (to cardamom) Mark Nesbitt 10:41, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

26/07/06 There are two distinct types of cardamoms. One is the small variety which is green in colour and has smooth skin. The other is the large variety with thick juicy skin. BUT the smaller ones grow above the earth while the larger ones below, rather near the earth. Plants are also different in sizes. Both are dried and used as spice. Can be eaten raw too and the shell too tastes nice of the larger ones that I am familiar with. But too much raw ones can affect your lungs because of its minty flavour. Anyway, too much of anything has never been good. Both fetch good prices in the market and maybe the smaller ones are more expensive. The larger black varieties (maroon rather)grow in abundance in the foothills of the himalayas needing cold weather and rain while the smaller ones grow largely in the southern part of India that I know of Sisney dude 19:03, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Is there any toxicity risk with cardamom as there is with nutmeg?

29/10/08 The sentence: "In the Middle East and Turkey, green cardamom powder is used as a spice for sweet dishes as well as traditional flavouring in coffee and tea." in the text is not entirely correct. In Turkey cardamom is never used to flavor coffee or tea; and Turks find it very distasteful to add any spices to their coffee and teas. --128.208.27.157 (talk) 20:27, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Couldn't agree more. Turks do not mix substances other than sugar and water with coffee. Not even milk, let alone exotic spices. I believe the word Turkey should be removed from that sentence.--Eleman (talk) 10:32, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I have to agree with Eleman and 128.208.27.157. Not only the Turks do not mix these kind of spices, but they also do not like people who do it, :) 72.49.127.115 (talk) 16:38, 2 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Since everyone seems to agree, I'm removing the word Turkey from that sentence.--Eleman (talk) 16:31, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

I am familier with the spice mixture known as hel (cardamom) added to coffee, generally from Yemenites. The cardamom will increase the stimulant property of the coffee somewhat. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.125.207.182 (talk) 04:28, 5 June 2016 (UTC)

Link Removed
Removed cardomom.info because the domain name had expired. skorpion 06:38, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Where is it grown?
Info is missing. --Gabi S. 14:45, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

I have added some information about the cultivation of cardamom (Amomum spp.)'in traditional medicine' where these two species are mentioned. When further information about cultivation is made available (on where, how and who grows cardamom), I would suggest this information be put under a section called 'Cardamom Cultivation'. Does anyone have information on the cultivation of Elettaria cardamomum in India and Guatemala that they could contribute for this page? I understand Amomum subulatum is an important crop in Sikkim, northeast India, Nepal and Bhutan.--RolandPalmer 09:08, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Hi to the person who wrote 'Recently, Nepal has been the world's largest producer of Cardamom'. Can you say which species or the commercial name for the type of cardamom you are talking about otherwise it is unclear, can you also add a reference source of your information? I thought Sikkim, northeast India had been the largest producer of Amomum subulatum, this may have changed but it really needs some sort of credible verification. I have seen some wild Amomum sp. in Vietnam and I have also read about many different wild species existing in Nepal and southeast Asia and are used locally. —Preceding unsigned comment added by RolandPalmer (talk • contribs) 10:22, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

Guatemala has claimed since the late 2000s to be the worlds largest producer of cardamom, according to the Guatemalan Times and several other web citations. I've found Guatemalan cardamom at Penzey's and My Spice Sage. They grow Elettaria cardamomum. Why is there no mention here of the quite possible fact that cardamom [also] comes from Guatemala?


 * Black Cardamom in Australia? Here in Australia it's virtually impossible to track down, even in Indian grocery stores and never available in supermarkets. Perhaps there are plants of the Amomum genus that grow wild in Australia, but cardamom isn't one of them. --MichaelGG (talk) 02:07, 21 September 2013 (UTC)

Quality
I have "The Book of Spices" by Alain Stella, a coffee-table format where the lighting in the photography seemed to matter more than the clarity of the prose. It states "Good cardamom can be identified from the condition of these capsules, which must be tightly shut and green or green-amber in color, but never grayish."

My own cardamom jar is full of capsules that are paper dry and beginning to split. Many are green, some are a bleached yellow that could potentially be described as "grayish". They were purchased not long ago from the local Indian specialty store, which mostly sells Hanif's and Teja brands.

Some of the pods have dark seeds inside as expected, but many of the pods have grayish seeds inside. What does it signify if the seeds are grayish? Was my cardamom a bad batch, or is discoloration of the seeds a common condition, and how much does it impact quality? Or perhaps the pods were picked too green and these seeds are not completely ripe? MaxEnt 14:23, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

There is no mention of 'white' cardamom pods, which I have seen for sale, and which are described as a bleached version of the green ones (and not as desireable). My reference is Sahni, Julie; Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking [book, 1985] Sympetrum (talk) 18:36, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

Expensive spice (in third place)
I did not see this article mention that cardamom is the world's third most expensive spice, or at least has traditionally been so, coming only after first-place saffron and second-place vanilla. If any one knows a good source for this information, could he or she put in a reference and add this information? Many thanks, ACEOREVIVED (talk) 20:49, 15 January 2008 (UTC) This is now mentioned in the article. Vorbee (talk) 08:23, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

Instant Hangover
Biting one of these seeds creates a cacophony of symptoms only equatable to that of a violent hangover. It will completely mess up your tastebuds, nauseate you, and give you and instant headache. What so-called flavour could it possibly add to food? Please won't somebody elaborate in the article about it's flavour and origins? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.247.71.214 (talk) 22:49, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm forced to chew these things if I had garlic to avoid alienating my partner when I breath, and I've never noticed these results. Are you surfe you aren't allergic? SGGH speak! 12:42, 16 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Weird enough my parnter seems to have these symptoms tonight after eating something with this herb, is there a source for this? I seem to have found on the web it cures headaches not create them. I think it is probably allergic reactions if i see something ill post back Ottawa4ever (talk) 20:15, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

Medicinal section
Here's a reference for the medicinal section (I don't know how to do any proper editing around here, just drop in links from time to time). I would think the Kew Gardens should be a sufficiently reliable source on all things botanical: http://www.kew.org/plant-cultures/plants/cardamom_traditional_medicine.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.150.194.82 (talk) 22:36, 13 October 2011 (UTC)

The source for my claim
Before any one says that I have not added a source for my claim about cardamom growing in southern India but now being grown in other parts of the world such as Sri Lanka, I saw it in a book I was browsing in Waterstone's one day (I am pretty sure that the book was by Sophie Grigson. ACEOREVIVED (talk) 16:40, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

I believe that the taxonomy of the green cardamoms (Elettaria) is not yet fully resolved. The Sri Lankan wild cardamoms are sometimes listed under E. ensal, but some consider it a synonym of E. cardamomum. Whatever the taxonomy, what is clear is that most cultivated green cardamoms in Sri Lanka derive from India, as the wild plants are considered inferior in quality. Kew's checklist of selected plant families is quite a reliable source for distribution information, see http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/advanced.do 58.182.196.165 (talk) 05:46, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

"(which I wasn't able to verify)"
The clause above appears on the page at present and it is certainly not written in encyclopedia style. Someone call an editor! I would love to stick around and fix it myself, but i am too busy editing a book right now, and only dropped by here to check taxonomy. 70.36.137.192 (talk) 04:24, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

tedious sentence
"This could be derived - and some books state so - from the adjective amomos [ἄμωμος] "blameless, without reproach"; given, however, that amomos is a regional and poetic form, this may be less probable than (what other books state) the derivation from Aramaic hemama, which was not able to be verified"

effectively nothing is known about the derivation of this word so why confuse people? The sentence is very tedious — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.239.250.100 (talk) 06:20, 28 January 2014 (UTC)


 * It was cited over a year from now for a reference - it's gone. HammerFilmFan (talk) 18:35, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

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Cardamom?
What is all this 'cardamom' business? I've never seen it spelt 'cardamom' or 'cardamum' until I went on then internet just now and found the world had gone insane. Is this a prank? Because it seems to be spreading around the internet. There are lots of websites talking about cardamom. I'm worried everything is going down the toilet. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.208.134.169 (talk) 01:10, 30 July 2017 (UTC)

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Is there an Arabic wikipedia term?
I couldn't find it in the list of suggested languages. Shilog (talk) 13:56, 13 February 2019 (UTC)

"Hel", in Arabic and Hebrew. "Hel" may also refer to the spice mixture containing cardamom that is added to coffee.

A detailed and thorough article with abundant citations! --DDlicious (talk) 21:48, 20 February 2024 (UTC)