Clove

1. a single segment of a bulb, such as garlic. 2. the unopened flower bud of the tall evergreen clove tree, Eugenia aromatica, which originated in the Spice Islands, Molucca Islands, Zanzibar and Madagascar, and is now grown in many areas of Southeast Asia. The name comes from the Latin clavus and the French clou, meaning "nail", and that's just what the spice looks like: a tiny nail. Chinese courtiers used the clove to sweeten their breath in the presence of the emperor about 300 BC, and the ancient Chinese name for it, ki she kiang, can be translated either as "bird tongue spice" or "chicken tongue spice." It was used by the Egyptians in the 2nd century AD and was known throughout Europe by the 8th century. The Emperor Constantine sent the Bishop of Rome gold and silver vessels filled with cloves, which was considered the ultimate in munificent gifts.

The monopoly on the clove trade was held by the Portuguese, who discovered the Moluccas while searching for cloves, and then the Dutch. In 1770, the monopoly was broken by the French, when a diplomat named Pierre Poivre (which translates as "Peter Pepper") managed to smuggle some seedlings into the French colonies of Isle de France and Bourbon. A single tree survived, and from it descended the entire plantation in Africa and the Americas. Today, half of the world's output (Tanzania is the largest producer) is consumed in Indonesia, where tobacco is smoked with cloves.

It has been known for centuries that eugenol, the main constituent of clove oil, has local anesthetic properties, used to alleviate toothaches. The oil is also used in perfumes, bath salts and in some brands of mouthwash.

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