From time to time on this blog we talk about those grace notes you can add to your Mojamix which are best done at home.  (If they weren’t best done at home… they’d already be on our big-ass menu!)  Among these, our current favourite is  the tiny and terrific nutmeg!

Fragrant, spicy, and flavorful, nutmeg has been making its way around the world for centuries. Emperor Henry VI had the streets of Rome fumigated with nutmegs before his coronation. In the sixth century, nutmegs were brought by Arab merchants to Constantinople. In the fourteenth century, half a kilogram of nutmeg cost as much as three sheep or a cow.

You have to grind your own nutmeg.  You just do.  Some spices can be ground, bottled, and retain their taste for months.  Nutmeg, however lasts about ten minutes, so pass up the shaker container and buy the little nuts whole. 

The good news is that you don’t have to buy a nutmeg grinder–unless you want to; some folks swear by them.  In fact, intricately decorated nutmeg graters have been a foodie fashion item in Paris since the middle ages.  For the rest of us: Know that squarish thing you grate your carrots with?  Turn it around to the side with the teeniest holes and rub your nut on that. (No dirty comments, please! Just delicious taste.)