Amazing mace

09 October 2002 by
Amazing mace

When the chef-proprietor of Lancashire's Northcote Manor, Nigel Haworth, first arrived at the property in March 1984, he began to research the specialities of the region, wanting to showcase its culinary traditions and flavours.

Among a number of books he began to work with was one called Lancashire Country Recipes, which included a recipe for potted shrimps. "That was one of the first dishes I tried when I got here, and among the ingredients included in the dish was a blade of mace. It was the first time I'd really used the spice and I found it was a really intriguing flavour," he says. "It brought back childhood memories of eating nutmeg-topped custard tarts and rice pudding, but was an even stronger, more pungent flavour than nutmeg. Mace seemed to give the dish the most wonderful fragrance and perfume."

So began an obsession with mace that has continued ever since. Haworth regularly experiments with the ingredient, exploring combinations that work well with the spice. "Ever since that first trial with the potted shrimps, I've always had mace at the back of my mind and, over the years, it's inspired me to create dishes around it," he says.

For a number of years Haworth has, for example, used mace as one of the key ingredients when cooking potted salmon, finding it gives the dish more depth and lends it a fresh and fruity flavour. "In the early days, I'd just put whole blades of mace on top of the salmon before wrapping it in foil, which gave it quite a good flavour. But, through trial and error, I've discovered that blitzing the blades of mace with a Bamix directly prior to using them opens them up and gives the dish a lot more freshness and pungency."

He also finds mace an invaluable ingredient during the game season, its fruity and slightly sharp qualities complementing the highly savoury nature of most game birds and animals. "I'm currently playing around with using mace with venison and have found in the past that it's excellent with wild duck, grouse and pigeon," he says.

He also makes bread sauce and bread sauce beignets subtly flavoured with mace, which are a good accompaniment for many game dishes, as is mace-flavoured beetroot.

To make this, he gently braises the vegetable in a liquor made up of equal quantities of red wine vinegar and port, to which he adds a generous dose of sugar and several blades of mace (again liquidized with a Bamix directly before use). Once braised, Haworth removes the beetroot and reduces the liquor to a syrup-like consistency, which he then drizzles over the vegetable. "The combination of ingredients in this dish gives it a sweet-and-sour edge, which works really well with meaty game - it cuts right through the meat," he explains.

Mace is not only a useful component of starters and main courses, however. Haworth has also discovered that it's versatile enough to use in some desserts, and he is currently flavouring the ice-cream he serves with his Manchester tart souffl‚ with the spice (see recipe). "Initially, I did a banana and nutmeg ice-cream with this soufflé. But then, out of curiosity, I tried doing the ice-cream with mace and discovered it's an even better match because of its strong fruitiness. So this is how I'm now serving it."

There are occasions, though, when Haworth prefers to use nutmeg rather than mace in dishes, as he finds that the latter spice is too robust and overpowering for delicate fish and meats. "For instance, I do a scallop dish with spinach and a little bit of nutmeg, which works. Mace is far too strong to use with the shellfish and destroys its flavour. Nutmeg is also a better spice when working with most white fish or with chicken."

This is because, although nutmeg and mace are both derived from the same tree, they have slightly different qualities. "Nutmeg has a duller perfume and a more subtle, flatter flavour; while mace has a sharper, cleaner pungency about it. This makes both useful ingredients, but in different ways.

"Mace, in particular, does need handling with care. You only need to use a small amount, or you're in danger of over-flavouring a dish with it. One or two blades is usually enough."

That said, the fact that Haworth gets through some 2kg of mace every winter says something about his passion for the ingredient. (He gets through just 500g of nutmeg, in comparison.)

"It is the most fascinating ingredient," he admits. "It has an incredible flavour and yet it's never been fashionable. Even today, when chefs are always looking for something new and experimenting with ingredients, mace is underused. It's the underdog of the spice world."

Northcote Manor, Northcote Road, Langho, Lancashire BB6 8BE. Tel: 01254 240555.

Mace facts

Both mace and nutmeg derive from the seed of the myristica fragrans tree, commonly known as the nutmeg tree. It is native to Moluccas in Indonesia and is now also cultivated in the West Indies, particularly Grenada, and in Sri Lanka.

The fruit of the nutmeg tree looks a little like a pear. The flesh is edible, and it's a particular delicacy in Sulawesi, Indonesia. At the heart of the fruit is a single large seed, the outside case of which is mace and the kernel of which is nutmeg.

After harvesting, mace and nutmeg are separated and dried, with nutmegs tending to be exported whole, while mace is exported both as whole "blades" and in powdered form.

Mace and nutmeg are used together in mixed spice, but otherwise tend to be used separately.

Source: The Oxford Companion to Food, by Alan Davidson, published by Oxford University Press

Matching mace with wine

Dishes incorporating mace need a robust wine to complement them, Haworth counsels. He suggests the following matches for the recipes shown here:

Manchester tart soufflé with mace ice-cream - Elysium, Black Muscat, Andrew Quady, California 2000

Native lobster and caramelised white chicory with sauce of blade mace - Tokay Pinot-Gris, le Fromenteau, Josmeyer 1998

Manchester tart soufflé with mace ice-cream (serves one)
Native lobster and caramelised white chicory with sauce of blade mace (serves one)

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