Mace substitute?
I need a small amount of ground mace to flavor the split pea soup that I plan to make but I don't have it and can't get it easily. So what spice would you substitute? I have a lot of other spices, just not mace. (The only other seasoning in the soup is bay leaves.) TIA
![header=[] body=[<img alt='' class='photo' src='http://www.chow.com/uploads/4/6/0/284064_spider_web_large.jpg?20120215230954' /><br /><strong>efdee</strong>] cssbody=[user_tooltip]](/uploads/2/6/0/284062_spider_web_tiny.jpg)
well, mace comes from the same fruit as clove so Id say a whole clove or two would do it.
I usually stick a couple cloves in the onion for my split pea soup - it works fine.
Permalink | Reply
Mace is part of the nutmeg spice, not cloves. A few gratings of nutmeg will give your peas soup a similar flavor to mace.
Permalink | Reply
Agree with this. I also like the website foodsubs.com for questions like this.
Permalink | Reply
Yes, as Chesterhillgirl noted, mace is the outer webbing of a nutmeg, so a little bit of nutmeg should do the trick. Go easy on the nutmeg, though -- while I love it as an accent flavor in savory dishes, a little goes a LONG way.
Permalink | Reply
Thank you, Chowhounds.
Permalink | Reply
wow I guess the financial crisis is affecting my brain. I was having a hard time visualising the structural relation of the mace with the clove fruit and gave it up- I guess this is why Nevertheless, I recommend the clove as a sub flavor. Obviously nutmeg as suggested would be closer.
Permalink | Reply
Yes, nutmeg and mace are from the same plant but if you don't have nutmeg, allspice should be similar enough for your purpose.
Permalink | Reply
Mace is not the same as clove. Allspice, mace and nutmeg come from the same tree. All of those have similar flavours. I have a ton of mace and regularly subsitute it for allspice so I'm sure you can do it in reverse.
Permalink | Reply
I had no idea those three came from the same tree - how interesting.
Permalink | Reply
No, allspice is a different plant and the berries are like pea-sized peppercorns.
Permalink | Reply
Nutmeg & Mace: http://www.chow.com/ingredients/308
Allspice: http://www.chow.com/ingredients/264
More than we could ever want to know!!
Permalink | Reply
Mace and nutmeg come from a tree that was originally limited to the Banda islands of eastern Indonesia.
Allspice is from a New World plant, famously in Jamaica.
Permalink | Reply
I stand corrected. This is what I was told at a plantation in Goa.
Permalink | Reply
Bumping this with a question. I've got a cookie recipe that calls for both nutmeg and mace. I've got the nutmeg, but I'd like to substitute for the mace. More nutmeg? Allspice? Cloves?
Permalink | Reply
What kind of cookie is it? If it's a spice cookie of some sort, I might add a little clove and a little cinnamon.
Permalink | Reply
A bit more nutmeg and some grated lemon rind. mace doen't taste of other spices to me, with clove and cinnamon you would be heading more in an allspice direction.
Permalink | Reply