Nutmeg?

Does anyone here know exactly what to do / use from a whole Nutmeg?

I bought a bag of these things at the Rimping in Chiang Mai and think I am making a bit of an arse of myself with it.

The Nutmeg I have is rock hard, dark brown and you cannot really grate it.

Out of the pack of five, 2 of them rattle if shaken, 3 don't????

Should I crack them in half and use what is on the inside or are you supposed to try and grate the rock hard thing itself?

Never had it before except in the ground form so pardon my ignorance.

I have Googled this, but to be truthfull, the results are all quite contradictary.

The rock hard part seems to have no taste or smell whatsoever, so I am guessing I need to open them, but I don't want to prematurely.

The info says that there is Mace inside? Inside what? Inside the rattling nut or has the Mace been taken off already?

It is a strange spice.

Thanks for any advice, it is appreciated.

Think of it like most nuts. The hard brown outer layer is the shell. Take it off. The nut inside is what is ground for use as a spice.

Smoke it.

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Originally Posted by Borey the Bald

Think of it like most nuts. The hard brown outer layer is the shell. Take it off. The nut inside is what is ground for use as a spice.

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Thanks - I have been trying to grind the damn shell for half an hour! It is really confusing on the net, they say the fruit is like a peach, open it and you have the Nutmeg covered in a red film (Mace) but these things I have are rock solid and there is no way you can grate them.

I'll crack one open tomorrow and give it a try! (I hope I haven't poisoned the boy - I was grinding some of the outer shell into his hot milk......................I must admit after 10 minutes of grinding it on a fine grater, there was barely enough to darken the top of the milk.

Any idea why some rattle and some don't?

Cheers!

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Originally Posted by alwarner

Smoke it.

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Maybe I will just go for "insertion" as I am sure the spices will be released into the body much quicker.

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Originally Posted by arfursixpence

Any idea why some rattle and some don't?

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I believe that as they ripen more, the outer shell tends to separate from the nut.

Grind it over your pet's food.