from oscar wilde

[nibot]

I'm sitting on the couch in the livingroom (there's wireless network access here now, and it works like magic). I'm drinking yummy black coffee made from ground espresso with cardamom and sugar. Kenny, JennyJoe, Alex, and another guy are playing bridge at a small table right in front of me. Diane is watching Kenny's game. A visitor is playing the piano, while Rebekah sings and Sun plays a trombone (sometimes switching to a trumpet). Another guy's at the house computer that we set up last semester. In the kitchen Tasha just hacked open a white coconut ("in my country, these grow on the sidewalk," she explained).

Comments

[dedoleo.livejournal.com]

What does cardamom taste like? Is it something that I can purchase at a grocery store? I looked on Google for it and read about it on Wikipedia, but no word on the flavour or how to get it.

cardamom

[nibot.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I'll have to try some more and see if I can describe the flavor in any other way than, ``it tastes like cardamom!'' It's a pretty basic spice and you should be able to find it without difficulty in the supermarket; here's a nice reference (http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/generic_frame.html?Elet_car.html). I learned to put it in coffee while in Israel; in arabic it's called something like hell and my Palestinian friend put it into coffee and it was yummy.

Re: cardamom

[(Anonymous)]

It is expensive in regular supermarkets.
Try Cost Plus; they sell it in cellophane bags for reasonable prices.
Try your local market that caters to immigrant shoppers. My favorite market, which has a large Persian and middle eastern clientele, sells it in the cellophane bags and in large spice jars. A packet should cost only a dollar or two. You can buy it ground or in the pod. If you buy the pod, peel the paper husk off and then grind the seeds with a mortar and pestle.
Cardemom is widely used in Scandinavian baking. It tastes perhaps a little like Chinese Five Spice.