Holiday spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger, how to choose and store them

December arrives, and with it the big return of spices: a cinnamon stick in hot cider, a touch of nutmeg in eggnog, ginger in molasses cookies. We bring them out once a year, often from the same little jar bought… nobody quite remembers when.

Here is how to recognize the right cinnamon, measure nutmeg wisely, avoid the decorative star anise trap, untangle the vocabulary and keep your spices fragrant without waste. To put it all into practice, our réveillon menu, dish by dish brings together traditional Quebec holiday recipes.

Six holiday spices at a glance

The essentials fit in this table; the points to watch are explained, with sources, further down.

Ceylon or cassia cinnamon: how to tell them apart

There are two main families of cinnamon, both taken from the bark of trees that grow in tropical regions. Chinese cinnamon, or cassia (also called Saigon cinnamon), is the most widely sold: it costs less and has a spicier flavour, explains the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Ceylon cinnamon, known as "true cinnamon", is more expensive and milder.

To tell them apart, look at the sticks. According to Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), a cassia stick is made of a single thick layer of bark rolled up on itself; a Ceylon stick is made of several thin rolled layers, and its cross-section looks like a cut cigar. Ground, they are almost impossible to tell apart: only the label can help you, when it says "Ceylon". Otherwise, it is probably cassia, the most common.

True or false? "Ceylon or cassia, it's the same cinnamon." False. They are two different products, and the most important difference can't be seen: coumarin.

Coumarin, without panicking

Coumarin is a natural substance with a sweet smell, and cinnamon is its main source in our diet. Cassia contains about 3,000 mg per kilo on average according to the BfR, with peaks of 10,000 mg/kg; Ceylon cinnamon usually contains only traces. In Canada, the CFIA measured 5.8 to 11,700 ppm (mg/kg) of coumarin in 300 cinnamon samples, for an average of about 3,340 ppm.

The BfR set a tolerable daily intake of 0.1 mg of coumarin per kilo of body weight, the same value as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). A 60 kg adult reaches it with about 2 g of cassia a day, a 15 kg child with about 0.5 g. The BfR specifies that exceeding it for a short time poses no health risk, and that no case of liver damage linked to eating cinnamon has been described: the known problems involve a small group of very sensitive people who were given coumarin as a medication.

In Canada, there are no established standards or tolerances for coumarin in foods; Health Canada can assess high levels case by case. After the CFIA survey, which covered nearly 1,500 products, Health Canada's Bureau of Chemical Safety concluded that the levels measured are not expected to pose a concern to human health. Most people can eat foods that naturally contain coumarin every day; in a small number of sensitive people, a higher intake than usual can raise liver enzymes.

True or false? "Holiday cinnamon cookies can damage your liver." False, for normal consumption. But if you put cinnamon in everything, every day, the BfR recommends Ceylon cinnamon. Also keep young children in mind: they reach the tolerable intake with four times less cassia than an adult. As for cinnamon supplements, they can contain a lot of coumarin, the BfR warns.

Nutmeg: grate it, and go easy

Nutmeg is the seed of the nutmeg tree. Its aroma and taste are similar to cinnamon, and they are strong: a little goes a long way, notes the University of Kentucky, which recommends grating whole nutmeg just before using it, because its flavour is lost quickly. A whole nutmeg is therefore a better buy than a big jar of powder: you grate only what you need, over the eggnog or into the doughnut dough.

Its shady reputation is not entirely undeserved. According to the Tennessee Poison Center, myristicin and elemicin, its main compounds, are thought to be responsible for psychological and physical effects at high doses. These effects have been reported starting at 15 to 20 g, or two to three tablespoons of ground nutmeg, an amount so unpleasant to swallow that abuse remains rare. Symptoms appear 3 to 8 hours after ingestion and last from a few hours to a few days: nausea, vomiting, a racing heart, dizziness, anxiety, hallucinations, sometimes seizures. Deaths are extremely rare.

A study cited by the centre counted 32 cases reported to an American poison centre from 2001 to 2011: the median age was 16, nearly half of the exposures were intentional and about 31% of the people were treated in hospital. The centre believes the risk of exposure is much higher than these numbers suggest, given how available nutmeg is over the holidays and the influence of the media, especially among teens and young adults. Keep it out of children's reach and, if someone has swallowed a large amount, call Info-Santé at 811.

True or false? "Too much nutmeg can make you sick." True, but at doses measured in tablespoons, a far cry from the pinch in a recipe.

Cloves, ginger, allspice and star anise

Cloves are part of the quatre-épices blend, along with pepper, nutmeg and ginger, according to the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), Quebec's French-language authority. Whole, they are perfect for flavouring a liquid, like our hot mulled cider, with or without alcohol: a few cloves in a tea ball, removed before serving. Whole spices flavour a dish more slowly than ground ones, notes the University of Kentucky, which suits a liquid that simmers gently.

Ginger is sold fresh, as a knobby "hand" that you peel before using, or dried and ground. Dried ginger is less sweet than fresh; its flavour, sweet at first, ends on a warm, spicy note. For our ginger molasses Christmas cut-out cookies, the powder is the most practical.

Allspice is not a blend at all: according to the OQLF, it is a berry picked and dried before it ripens. Its names cause confusion; more on that below.

Star anise calls for some caution. In 2004, Health Canada advised consumers not to ingest herbal teas or health products containing star anise unless it is definitely Chinese star anise (Illicium verum), which has a long history of safe use in foods. Japanese star anise and other species, used for decorative and aromatic purposes, are not considered safe for human consumption and can be toxic if enough is ingested. Temporary reactions, from mild nausea to convulsions and seizures, had been reported in the United States and Europe, sometimes with teas given for infant colic. So buy your star anise in the spice aisle, never cook with the stars from a potpourri or a decoration, and forget homemade tea for babies. The advisory does not cover anise (Pimpinella anisum), a different plant.

Quatre-épices, allspice, tourtière spice: the words that confuse everyone

Your recipe calls for quatre-épices and you are torn between two jars? No wonder. The French name literally means "four spices". According to the OQLF, quatre-épices is a blend of pepper, cloves, nutmeg and ginger; in everyday French, the word also names aromatic seeds that can replace a spice blend on their own. The Office adds that toute-épice ("all-spice") and quatre-épices should not be used to label allspice, as these names are too imprecise. In short, the same name gets used for a single berry and for a blend.

English doesn't help either: allspice sounds like a blend, when it is actually a single berry. And the blend's recipe changes from jar to jar: the four spice blends highest in coumarin analyzed by the CFIA were "four spice" blends made with cinnamon, allspice (called Jamaican pepper in the report), cloves and nutmeg, at 2,560 to 3,380 ppm. That's not quite the composition described by the OQLF.

True or false? "Allspice is a spice blend." False. It is a single berry, the fruit of the tree of the same name.

For ready-made blends, whether they are called tourtière spice or pie spice, only the ingredient list tells you what's inside, cinnamon included. You can also make your own blend with the spices you already have: the University of California suggests replacing pumpkin pie spice with cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Made as needed, it's one less big jar going stale at the back of the cupboard.

Storing spices until next year's réveillon

Spice storage times are first and foremost about quality: according to Clemson University, pantry foods may still be safe beyond the recommended storage time, but they lose flavour and texture. Air, light, moisture and heat speed up the loss of flavour and colour, sums up the University of California. As for how long, the sources don't agree:

Remember the order of magnitude: a whole spice keeps about twice as long as a ground one. And Clemson warns that high temperature or humidity can shorten these times considerably.

• An airtight container, in the dark. A cupboard or a drawer, away from sunlight. Small reused glass jars do the job if they are clean, dry and tightly closed: see how to reuse glass jars.
• Away from heat. Not above the stove, dishwasher, microwave or fridge, nor near the sink or a heating vent (University of California), nor near hot water pipes (Clemson).
• No open jar over the pot. Steam gets in: use a dry spoon instead.
• A date on the jar, as Clemson suggests; it also points out that spices can become infested with insects.

The smell test. A ground spice that smells strong and good probably still has some punch. A whole spice, like a cinnamon stick, should be broken or crushed first to release its aroma (University of California). A powder that barely smells of anything won't do a thing for your tourtière: replace it.

Buy small, grind as needed. The University of California advises buying a small size until you know how fast you use a spice. Bulk is ideal for that: two cinnamon sticks, a few cloves, one nutmeg, just enough for your holiday recipes (see the benefits of bulk buying and how to do it right). Buy whole when you can: freshly ground spices give the most flavour, even if you need a small grinder or a grater (University of Kentucky). Fewer stale jars means less waste; more ideas in how to avoid food waste at home.

Your spices are ready? They also flavour savoury réveillon dishes, like our traditional tourtière and our old-fashioned meatball stew (ragoût de boulettes), as well as old-fashioned holiday doughnuts and homemade cooked eggnog. For the rest of the meal, head back to the réveillon menu, dish by dish.

Free gift: get The Quebec Recipe Advent Calendar, 24 recipes ready in 30 minutes or less with local ingredients, one a day until Christmas Eve. The same page gathers all our holiday recipes and guides.

Sources

• FAQ on coumarin in cinnamon and other foods, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), 2012.
• Coumarin in Selected Foods – April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2018, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 2023.
• Nutmeg, a Potentially Uninvited Holiday Guest?, N. Bowman, Tennessee Poison Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2020.
• Health Canada advises consumers not to ingest teas or health products containing star anise unless it is identified as Chinese star anise, Health Canada, 2004.
• Piment de la Jamaïque, Grand dictionnaire terminologique (allspice terminology record; in French), Office québécois de la langue française, 2001.
• Savor the Flavor: Seasoning with Spices (FCS 3-630), H. Norman-Burgdolf, A. Norris and J. Mullins, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension, 2019.
• Add a Little Spice to Your Life! Part II, A. Martin, University of California Cooperative Extension, 2002.
• Food Storage: Pantry (HGIC 3525), Clemson Cooperative Extension, 2020.