Cardamom, let’s be friends

Dare I say it, but it is the countdown to Christmas time already!

For me, the memories of a Christmas past are triggered by the scent of cardamom.

One year, my nephew was charged with glazing the ham, and he came up with a winning combo of figs, brown sugar, brandy and cardamom! It was a knock out and started me on a cardamom craze, which is still in full swing.

So, while it is still a little early for the full range of stone fruits, I have adapted a recipe I had for cardamom pears, and in early summer will seek out beautiful white peaches.

It’s a simple, stunning and healthy (well, almost) dessert and I think using whole fruit to finish a dinner is always a light and refreshing finale.

Cardamom is of course a common ingredient in Indian cuisine, but is also found in the Nordic countries, where it is a key ingredient in a sweet bread called pulla.

Like many spices, cardamom is best stored in pod form, rather than ground. It has quite a strong and certainly a unique taste, and is found in two forms – green and black.

The black cardamom has a smokey flavour with almost a hint of mint.

It is often one of the spices used in garam masala, or in slow braised meat dishes of the Sichuan province in China. Vietnamese pho recipes often include black cardamom.

Green cardamom can be found in both sweet and savoury dishes, and can be combined with coffee to make a delicious spiced brew, or in some chai blends.

I sometimes put five-seven pods in the pot when cooking rice to impart a lovely aromatic flavour – for rice that is to accompany a fish or chicken curry.

It has a broad range of medicinal uses, as is often the case with many spices, varying from mouth infections, breaking up gall stones, and as an antidote to snake and scorpion bites!

But back to the lovely peaches (or pears) – the poaching time will vary a little depending on the ripeness of the fruit – best to err on the side of less cooking time.

The key to really imparting the flavour is to allow the fruit to cool in the syrup. It’s even better to prepare these the day before and allow fruit to be in the syrup for 24 hours at least.

Remove peaches, and boil liquid until it reduces to a syrupy consistency. Remove from the heat, pour over the peaches and leave at room temperature.

To serve, halve the fruits at room temperature.

I had to hand some Pandora cake, so added a slice of this and added just a little rose water to the syrup to give another layer of flavour.

Double cream or a mix of cream and yoghurt can be served.

If, like me, you are beginning to make little lists, maybe earmark this recipe as a simple yet sensational dessert to serve to family, friends, or to take along as a sharing plate offering if you are beginning to launch out on the “must catch up with you before Christmas” regime.

If nothing else, December 25 does galvanise us into actually making firm dates in our diaries before the year draws to a close.