Cloves

One more week, at the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, we keep discovering new curiosities about the Asian continent. This time, we want to tell you about one of the most popular Asian spices: cloves.

Cloves are one of the oldest aromatic spices of the world. People say this is the spice that best symbolises Asian soul. It has been used for a long time in the cuisine by different cultures. Besides, it has several medicinal properties.

Both the taste and aroma of this spice are incredibly intense. That is why people usually use small amounts of cloves, otherwise they could ruin a recipe. Cloves match very well with different spices such as nutmeg or cinnamon.

We can find this spice whole cloves or ground cloves. They can be added either to sweet recipes or to salty ones. When it comes to sweet dishes, we can find cloves on cakes, cookies and preserves; and concerning to salty recipes, it goes together with rice, legumes, pork, rabbit meat and sauces and seasonings.

Regarding to the use of cloves in Asia, Indonesia is the largest producer of cloves. Chinese and Japanese cultures use cloves to prepare incense.

In China, cloves are very used. This spice is one of the ingredients of the famous five-spice powder, along with Chinese cinnamon, fennel seeds, star anise and Sichuan pepper.

It is also a very popular spice in India. It is used in dishes and sauces in the North of India, such as the famous curry known as korma.

If you are a food lover as we are, during your visit to the luxury resort Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, you will love any of our 7 restaurants and bars. You will be able to enjoy a masterly combination of original Asian flavours with those of traditional Mediterranean and international cuisine. We are looking forward to seeing you!