Ingredient Information

Cloves

Cloves are those small stick looking things that your mom stuck in the ham at holidays. Depending on how you cook you might want to have have both whole cloves and ground cloves in your cupboard. If you have the time, grind them fresh using a mortar and pestle but you can use whole cloves when combining other spices in the blender for rubs or marinades (see Wet Rub Chicken).

Ground cloves, like whole, are pretty powerful so a little goes a long way. If you are trying to create your own recipe go easy at first. Too much ground clove will make a recipe bitter.