Mace and nutmeg are spices that are widely used in various food preparations such as in sauce Blanche, also called Béchamel; many Italian dishes, included into the stuffing of pastas or just grated on them before serving; cakes; etc. It is also on the ingredients of some alcohol such as the Benedictine.

Nutmeg is known for its aromatics which are piney, citrus-like and terpeney in nature, combined with a sweet yet bitter taste that gives nutmeg a truly distinctive flavor. Nutmeg is a ground form of a seed that comes from the fruit on the Myristica fragans tree. Nutmeg and mace are closely related as they not only grow on the same tree, but mace is the red to orangey net-like membrane covering the nutshell. The nutmeg itself has an oval shape with a grayish-brown and wrinkled skin. The color of the membrane helps to define the country of origin. When red-orange it will usually come from Indonesia. When red-yellowish, it will most likely come from Grenada.

Forms of nutmeg that originated from the East Indies tend to have a high content of volatile oil, and a flavor that is distinctively rich along with an aroma to go with it. The East Indian nutmeg is highly aromatic, but the West Indian form of nutmeg has a much milder flavor and significantly higher fatty oil content.

Connecticut, a state in the United States is known as the Nutmeg State, because slick Yankee peddlers tended to sell whittled down wooden nutmegs to unsuspecting housewives in the state's history.

Nutmeg contains 30% fat which is a lot but should not be a problem in your diet as one usually needs only a pinch to flavor dishes. Whilst one can find grated nutmeg, its flavor quickly evaporate, so it is best to grate it as you go. For the same reason, it is advisable to use it as the end of your recipe as the heat will reduce the flavor. When purchased whole, a small grater is usually included into the bottle.

Historically, mace was more coveted than nutmeg, which created a situation whereby the English and Dutch colonies asked the growers to destroy nutmeg trees to produce more mace. They actually did not realize that both nutmeg and mace were coming from the same tree. The growers must have wondered if these people were not turning…nut.