Artifact: Allspice
Materials: Allspice
Dimensions:
Date:
Origin:
Collection: Jonathunder via Wikimedia Commons
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Ledger Entry: Allspice
Department: Grocery
Customer: Hannah Janey
Ledger Page: 129
Imported From: Europeans originally encountered allspice in the West Indies.
Product Description
Allspice is an aromatic spice made from the ground, dried berries of the tree with the same name. It was incorporated into many different recipes, especially sweets. Recent research suggests that the use of spices such as allspice was as much about their antiseptic properties as it was about their flavor.
Citation: Katharine E. Harbury, Colonial Virginia's Cooking Dynasty (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2004); Andrew F. Smith, ed., The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007)
Historical Price: 8 pence per 1/2 lb; Modern USD: $7.47
Product Variations
The databases record six purchases of allspice. Four of these are for half a pound and two are for a pound of allspice. These ranged from eight pence to one shilling one and a half pence for half a pound.
