Mace

Mace is a spice that can always be found in my spice racks, both in ground form and as an integral part of whole nutmegs.

Nutmeg tree	Nutmegs ripening	Mace on a nutmeg	Dried mace

Species:	Myristica fragrans.
Origin:	South-East Asia.
Source:	Mace is a product of the nutmeg tree, which originates in the Banda Islands archipelago in Eastern Indonesia. The main producing countries today are Indonesia ("East Indian mace") and Grenada ("West Indian mace"). Indonesian mace is exported mainly to Asia and Europe while Grenadan mace mostly finds its way to the US. Mace from two other nutmeg species can be found as an adulterant of true mace, these species being m. argentea "Macassar nutmeg" from New Guinea and m. malabarica "Bombay nutmeg" from South India. The former is described as wintergreen-like, but the latter lacks fragrance.
Used Part:	Mace is an arillus, a thin leathery tissue between the stone and the pulp of the apricot-like fruit of the nutmeg tree. It is bright red to purple when harvested but amber after drying.
Family:	Myristicaceae (nutmeg family).
Effect:	Mace is strongly aromatic, resinous and warm in taste and is generally said to have a finer aroma than its partner nutmeg although the difference is small. When ground, mace maintains its fragrance better than does nutmeg, which should always be ground immediately before use.
Etymology:	Mace and related forms (e.g. German macis, Estonian maasis, Spanish macia and Hebrew mays) originate from Greek makir, denoting an Oriental spice often described as a kind of "bark".
	In some European languages mace is named as "flower of nutmeg" (German muskatblüte, Swedish muskotblomma, Czech muškátový květ and French fleur de muscade). Mace was incorrectly supposed to be the flower of the nutmeg tree during the Middle Ages and even Marco Polo propagated this error.
	The genus name myristica derives from Greek myron "balm" or "ointment", which is probably a Semitic loan and thus related to Hebrew mor "myrrh" and derived from a Common Semitic root mrr "bitter". Some other fragrant plants bear similar scientific names, e.g. myrtus (myrtle), myrrhis (cicely) and myrica (gale). The plant "rosemary" may also belong to that series.
	The species name fragrans also refers to good smell, meaning "smelling" or "aromatic" from the Latin verb fragrare, "to smell".
Uses:	Nutmeg and mace became known in Europe comparatively recently because of the limited geographical distribution of the nutmeg tree. Only in the 11th century was it introduced to European markets by Arab traders and it was first used chiefly for flavouring beer. The spice was thought to originate from India.
	Significant trade in Europe only started in the 16th century, when Portuguese ships sailed to the famed Spice Islands, today the Maluku (Moluccas) province of Eastern Indonesia. During the 17th century the Dutch monopolised the major trade in nutmeg, as they did with cloves.
	Today, the culinary popularity of mace has diminished, although significant use continues in Arab countries, Iran and North India where mace appears in delicately-flavoured meat dishes. The North Indian spice mixture garam masala contains mace, as do various dishes of Morocco (ras el hanout), neighbouring Tunisia (gâlat dagga) and Saudi Arabia (baharat).
	In Western cuisine both mace and nutmeg are more popular for cakes, crackers and stewed fruits.