Mace substitute?

[efdee]

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

[jen kalb]

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.

[ChesterhillGirl]

Mace is part of the nutmeg spice, not cloves. A few gratings of nutmeg will give your peas soup a similar flavor to mace.

[Amuse Bouches]

Agree with this. I also like the website foodsubs.com for questions like this.

[DanaB]

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.

[efdee]

Thank you, Chowhounds.

[jen kalb]

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.

[greygarious]

Yes, nutmeg and mace are from the same plant but if you don't have nutmeg, allspice should be similar enough for your purpose.

[sarah galvin]

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.

[MMRuth]

I had no idea those three came from the same tree - how interesting.

[greygarious]

No, allspice is a different plant and the berries are like pea-sized peppercorns.

[MMRuth]

Nutmeg & Mace: http://www.chow.com/ingredients/308

Allspice: http://www.chow.com/ingredients/264

More than we could ever want to know!!

[Karl S]

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.

[sarah galvin]

I stand corrected. This is what I was told at a plantation in Goa.

[hungrydrivers]

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?

[MMRuth]

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.

[buttertart]

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.