Cardamom: This spice imparts slightly sweet, floral citrus flavor

Spices come from all different sources of plant life, and cardamom may be among the most unusual.

The leaf of a plant is referred to as a culinary herb. Spices can be from the buds (cloves), the bark (cinnamon), the roots (ginger), berries (peppercorns), aromatic seeds (cumin) and even the stigma of a flower (saffron), according to "The Spice and Herb Bible" by Ian Hemphill (Robert Rose, $22.95).

The spice cardamom grows from a rhizome, which is a creeping stem lying horizontally near the base of the plant. The flowers are borne on stems. The pods or capsules form after pollination of the flowers.

Dried cardamom pods are pale-green, oval and knobby in shape. When the papery husk is broken open, three seed segments with oily, pungent seeds are revealed.

Green cardamom is native to the south of India and Sri Lanka. In first-century Rome, cardamom was one of the most popular Oriental spices in Roman cuisine.

The aroma of the pods develops when they dry. White cardamom, which achieved fashionable status in Victorian times, was created by bleaching the pods with hydrogen peroxide.

Cardamom imparts a slightly sweet floral and citrus flavor to dishes, whether you are baking or using it in entrees or side dishes. It's a classic spice to add to your spice rack.

Traditionally, cardamom has been used to flavor Danish pastries, cakes, biscuits and fruit dishes. It is used in a variety of Scandinavian baked goods.

There seems to be at least two flavor combinations used in baking with this spice: cardamom and coffee and cardamom and vanilla.

In "Baking From My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan (Houghton Mifflin, $40), Cardamom Crumb Cake is flavored with 1/2 teaspoon each of instant espresso powder and ground cardamom. The combination is also used in Cardamom and Coffee Marble Loaf. Using a basic loaf batter, 1 teaspoon ground cardamom is mixed in one half-portion, and 2-1/2 teaspoons instant coffee powder dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water is mixed in the other half. The two are then swirled together and baked for the marble effect.

Vanilla bean and cardamom is among McCormick spice company's top 10 flavor pairings for 2008. Two of the recipes developed are Vanilla Cardamom Whoopie Pies and Milk Shake Shooters, which Kay Lynne Schaller tested for the Toledo Blade.

"The Whoopie Pies were beautiful and amazingly easy," she says. "My kids liked them."

Chocolate Whoopie Pies are a cakelike cookie sandwiched around a layer of creamy filling; a version is featured in "The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion" (Countryman Press, $29.95).

Chocolate cookie cakes are used in the Vanilla Cardamom Whoopie Pies recipe, too; the cookies and the filling are both flavored with cardamom. The filling is made with marshmallow cream, confectioner's sugar and butter. Finely chopped pistachios are the garnish.

For the trendy little Vanilla Cardamom Milk Shake Shooters, vanilla ice cream mixed with milk is seasoned with vanilla extract and ground cardamom. They have awesome flavor.

In the Middle East, cardamom is an enhancement to coffee. Split a cardamom pod into the narrow coffee-pot spout. When the coffee is poured, it filters past the bruised cardamom, creating a refreshing taste, according to "The Spice and Herb Bible." Or when you make French-press coffee, try putting a few bruised cardamom pods in the pot with the grounds for a delicious taste.

Claudia Roden writes in "Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon" (Knopf, $35) that the old-style Turkish coffee, scented with orange-blossom water or gum mastic or spiced with cardamom, cinnamon or cloves, has been generally replaced by espresso and is only rarely found in Morocco.

Cardamom is also used in Indian chai, an aromatic spiced tea typically made with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, freshly grated nutmeg and pepper. Cardamom can also be used to flavor green tea.

Information from McCormick states that cardamom's distinctive flavor is an important ingredient in almost every world cuisine.

The Indians include cardamom in many curries. Cardamom is also found in biryani rice dishes.

Biryani is popular in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and surrounding countries. It is basically rice, herbs, spices, vegetables and/or meat or fish and yogurt. Spices include bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, ginger, saffron and turmeric.

Preparing a biryani requires timing: the meat is marinated and the rice is parboiled before both are fried separately. Rice, meat or vegetables are layered in an earthen cooking pot. It is traditionally served with raita (cucumber and yogurt sauce), according to "1001 Foods to Die For" (Andrews McMeel, $39.95).

Cardamom complements rice puddings and custards and marries well with citrus fruit and mangoes. Use 1 teaspoon cardamom to flavor mango-cheesecake filling.

Serve Cardamom Coconut Rice with sauteed shrimp and a beurre blanc sauce.

McCormick advises adding 1/4 teaspoon cardamom to 9-inch apple-pie filling, blueberry-muffin mix, 2 cups sweet potatoes or in spice rubs and marinades for pork.

VANILLA CARDAMOM WHOOPIE PIES

2 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

For the Vanilla Cardamom Filling:

1/2 cup butter

1-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1-1/2 cups marshmallow cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/3 cup finely chopped salted pistachios

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and cardamom in medium bowl; set aside. Mix buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.

Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add egg; mix well. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beating on low speed after each addition until smooth and scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Spoon tablespoon of batter, 2 inches apart, onto parchment-paper-lined large baking sheets. (Cookies will spread, so avoid crowding them on baking sheet.)

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are puffed and spring back when touched, turning baking sheets halfway through baking. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

For Filling: Beat butter, confectioner's sugar, marshmallow cream, vanilla and cardamom in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.

To assemble Whoopie Pies: Place 1 tablespoon filling on flat side of 1 cookie. Top with second cookie, pressing gently to spread filling. Roll or sprinkle sides of Whoopie Pie with chopped pistachios. Repeat with remaining cookies, filling and pistachios. Store prepared Whoopie Pies between layers of wax paper in airtight container in refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

Yield: 24 servings

-- McCormick

CARDAMOM COCONUT RICE

3/4 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon Sicilian Sea Salt

1/2 cup jasmine rice

2 tablespoon chopped green onions

Bring coconut milk, water, sea salt and cardamom to a boil in medium saucepan, stirring occasionally. Stir in rice. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 20 minutes or until rice is tender, stirring occasionally to prevent rice from sticking. Fluff rice with fork. Add green onions; toss gently to mix. Serve with an entree.

Yield: 2 to 3 servings

-- McCormick

VANILLA CARDAMOM MILK SHAKE SHOOTERS

1 pint vanilla ice cream

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Place ice cream, milk, vanilla and cardamom in blender container; cover. Blend on high speed until smooth. Pour into glasses. Sprinkle with additional cardamom, if desired.

Yield: 6 1/2-cup servings

-- McCormick

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)