This week Matt Swaim of the Sonrise Morning Show, Sacred Heart Radio, talked about cloves. Of course, cloves are an ingredient in pumpkin pie spice.

Cloves are mentioned here in the Bible:

Chronicles 9:9: When the Queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she went to him and gave him rare jewels and spices, including cloves.

Cloves were a rare spice in Bible days. Cloves were a caravan import known to the Romans and were brought into Alexandria in the second century AD. By the fourth century AD this spice was well known around the Mediterranean and by the eighth century throughout Europe. The Arabs, who traded cloves from India and Ceylon, kept the origins of their precious cargo a closely guarded secret.

Cloves were one of the first breath fresheners. 

People who addressed the Emperors held cloves in their mouths to sweeten the breath when addressing them. 

When did folks find out about cloves antiseptic qualities?

During the Crusades in Europe, think of how much disease there was. Cloves could not only sweeten the air, they were found to have antiseptic qualities. 

Making pomanders is a fun tradition during the holidays today. But pomanders were used for something more important than a decoration during the 13th century.

By then people were making pomanders – apples or oranges studded with cloves to help ward off disease.

And some naturalist even today use cloves to help tame a toothache. You can’t use clove oil straight, it needs to be mixed with an edible oil, like olive oil. 

In many languages cloves translate as nails, and they do look like nails.

If you buy pumpkin pie spice, cloves will be included.

Here’s a homemade pumpkin pie spice mix!