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Allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or pimento, is the dried unripe berry of Pimenta dioica, a midcanopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world. The name allspice was coined as early as 1621 by the English, who valued it as a spice that combined the flavours of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Contrary to common misconception, it is not a mixture of spices.
Several unrelated fragrant shrubs are called "Carolina allspice" ( Calycanthus floridus), "Japanese allspice" ( Chimonanthus praecox), or "wild allspice" ( Lindera benzoin).
Care must be taken during drying to ensure that the Essential oil in the fruit, such as eugenol, remain in the end products rather than being driven out by the drying process.
Allspice is also indispensable in Middle Eastern cuisine, particularly in the Levant, where it is used to flavour a variety of stews and meat dishes, as well as tomato sauce.Diane Kochilas, My Greek Table, 2018, , p. 22 In Arab cuisine, for example, many main dishes use allspice as the only spice.
In Northern European and North American cooking, it is an ingredient in commercial sausage preparations and , and in pickling.
In the United States, it is used mostly in , but it is also responsible for giving Cincinnati chili its distinctive aroma and flavor. Allspice is commonly used in Great Britain, and appears in many dishes. In Portugal, whole allspice is used heavily in traditional stews cooked in large terracotta pots in the Azores islands.
In the United Kingdom it is a dominant flavour in the condiment Brown sauce.
Allspice is also one of the most used spices in Polish cuisine (used in most dishes, soups and stews) and is commonly known under the name English herb () since Britain was its major exporter.
Allspice is an important part of Swedish cuisine, Finnish cuisine and Norwegian cuisine. Whole allspice is used to flavour soups as well as stews such as Karelian hot pot. Ground allspice is also used in various dishes, such as minced meat sauces, Swedish meatballs, and different cakes.
Pimenta grows in Tonga and in Hawaii, where it has become naturalized on Kauai and Maui. Jamaica remains the leading source of the plant, although some is grown by other countries in the same region.
Allspice was found only on the island of Jamaica, where birds readily spread the seeds. To protect the pimenta trade, Jamaican growers guarded against export of the plant. Many attempts at growing the pimenta from seeds were reported, but all failed. Eventually, passage through the Bird digestive tract, whether due to the acidity or the elevated temperature, was found to be essential for Germination the seeds, and successful germination elsewhere was enabled.
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