on trimodal cardamom

[eub]

I opened a bunch of cardamom pods, in making Turkish coffee ice cream, and found their seeds fell into three well-separated groups: blackish, charcoal-gray, and light brown. I wondered if I should use only the blackish, or if they were all valid.

Crushing them up separately found that the light brown does smell different -- thinner, more piney-camphory. The charcoal-gray and the black both are fuller, with that floral-incensey scent that cardomom has. The two of them may differ a little from each other, I'm not sure, but not by too much.

Comments

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I've certainly noticed the dark, plump ones versus the pale brown ones. I assume the pale ones are either dried out or were picked before the seeds had developed fully. I usually bung them in anyway, but I try to make sure there's mostly dark ones.