Ingredient Overview
Cloves are the unopened flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum. Their strong, warm aroma has made them a familiar culinary ingredient, while the buds also supply constituents for extraction.
The dried flower bud is the familiar clove used in food traditions. Its concentrated aroma gives a small plant part a strong sensory presence. Extraction presents the bud in another format, with the source material and its naturally occurring constituents forming the background to the ingredient.