A Haitian Treasure: Jirof (Clove)
Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum), coming from the Latin word for 'nail' clovus, are the dried, immature, and unopened aromatic flower buds of a tropical tree, native to Eastern Asia. Cloves are cultivated mostly in Brazil, the West Indies (including Haiti), Tanzania, Madagscar and India. When fresh, they are pink, and turn to a dark rust-brown color when dried. Cloves are known for having a distinctly strong flavour, making them particularly popular in certain types of cuisine, like the delicious Haitian Cuisine. In Haitian Kreyol, cloves are known as jirof or jiwof and in French as girofles. Cloves have great historical significance and have been important to so many cultures for thousands of years. Clove is more popular than you might know. Do you like chai tea? Well, one of the main ingredients in chai tea is clove. Did you use glue in kindergarten? Clove oil. In the Middle East, crushed cloves are used to manufacture special clove cigarettes called kretek. Are you Haitian too? Asides from culinary uses, Haitians use jirof as a form of traditional medicine as well. Jirof can be boiled to make a tea that is especially good at relieving stomach pain.
Clove is one of the most common spices used in Haitian cuisine. Because cloves are so potent, only a few pieces are needed to give mega flavor to a dish. Cloves blend beautifully with a variety of herbs and spices which is another reason why they are so popular. Cloves are in all of your quintessential Haitian treats. like diri ak djon djon, jambon, mayi moulen, griyo, kremas etc. As a kid, I remember accidentally biting on cloves in these different dishes and literally crying with frustration because it tasted so bad. I'm sure all Haitian kids have had this experience. It's quite inevitable actually. My cousins and I used to try and pick them out before eating any of our grandma's dishes because we knew they had to be in there somewhere!
Some benefits:
In many traditional healing systems, cloves are believed to increase heat in the body's system, which is useful for stimulating the digestive tract
Good source of dietary fiber, Vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, and omega- 3 fatty acids
is one of the most popular substances in toothpaste, laxative pills and local anesthetics (Clovacaine)
can be a natural tooth filling when mixed with zinc oxide, under proper dental guidance
can be used to treat minor respiratory ailments
can relieve toothaches and decrease infections in the teeth due to its antiseptic properties
can reduce blood sugar levels
can freshen breathe when chewed
natural anti-oxidant, anti-histamine and anti-microbial
historical aphrodisiac
Suggested uses
as a pain-killer
as an anti-parasitic
as aromatherapy
can be applied topically as an oil or cream for hypotonic muscles
popular seasoning
used to preserve food
used in perfume
can be made into tea and liquor