I’m not fond of this in cooking.  have added a little ground nutmeg to a fairly plain snuff.  Not bad I think.  Anybody tried this? Any anecdotes or experience of this? I’ve a hunch it was used to add piquancy in the past.   

Didn’t they just use some nutmeg-mace on the Occupy Wall Street folks? :D 

I have tried cinnamon but really love Tonka bean and Toque Quit.

Yes.  Mace means somerthing else now. Whatever it is, it’s nasty.  A pinch of nutmeg, a little tonka…me own sort.   

Ever really smelled Wilson’s Strasbourg carefully?

Whalen.  I haven’t much of a hooter.  I still put too much pipe smoke through it. I’ll revist Strasbourg.  Somehow it’s quite familiar, not like the flavour when used as a cooking ingredient.    

I happened to get a fresh tin and some fresh nutmeg the same day, scent memory thing went off big time. I had made some holiday treats and when the tin was as opened, I went , wait, where did I smell this recently.

You’re right.  I think I’ll use just a pinch though.  A little goes a long way.  I really want to try this combination with tonquin. I think this is sort of snuff that Smiths in Charing Cross Road did do well many years ago.

I love the scent of nutmeg. When I first learned of snuffing I would do pinches of nutmeg. The effect of which was very dulling on the mind and senses. I am surprised I haven’t scented any real snuff with it yet. Maybe I lost some brain cells.

Clarify please. Does “mace” have an alternate meaning? The only mace I’m used to is the sort which is excruciatingly painful when sprayed into the eyes. 

Mace is a spice made from nutmeg nut husks.

The husks may be what is intended by ‘nut shells’ in a very old recipe Spanish snuff. Nutmeg powder has a stronger scent and Mace might be preferable.  It has a very ‘sweetening’ effect on the snuff.  Not bad at all to my mind.  As Whalen pointed out, Strasbourg is probably loaded with it. 

Mace as a weapon:  All I can remember is Hunter S Thomson threatening to ‘mace’ someone.  I don’t think he meant he was going to cover them in finely scented snuff! It hasn’t occurred to me to discover whether this weapon is derived from nutmeg, mainly 'cause I’m not interested. But it’s available for anybody to look up…

Not sure what (if any) tobacco snuffs used Nutmeg, but it was sometimes used in Cephalic snuff “Cephalic Snuff.—The following are various receipts recommended for this snuff:—Mix together equal parts of the leaves of asarabacca, marjoram, and of the lily of the valley, dried leaves of asarabacca 1 ounce, flowers of lavender 2 drams, dried leaves of asarabacca 3 ounces, leaves of the dock and flowers of lavender each 1 ounce, sage leaves, rosemary, lilies of the valley and the tops of sweet marjoram, of each 1 ounce, with a dram each of asarabacca root, lavender flowers and nutmeg; pound and sift it very finely.” The Magazine of science, and schools of art, Volume 3 As part of the deal on New Amsterdam (renamed New York) England gave up the tiny nutmeg island of Run to the Dutch East India Company. Nutmeg was sold in the 17th century as the panacea to cure all maladies and was more prized than gold. The warring between Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and England over the island of Run is almost beyond belief.

Philips, yes.  I recall some of this.  It is an example of people fighting to the death over something which, when it becomes more readily available ceases to attract any attention or interest. 

I think used very sparingly nutmeg enlivens a flat and uninteresting snuff.  This is a matter of taste and I could see people taking against it much as I would take against the idea of the actually trying the above recipe however good for you it may be.  

(You don’t think that the ‘Spanish nut shells’ used for making the ‘Good English-Spanish Sort’ were mace or the husk of nutmeg?  I’ve skimmed and read one site which states that nutmeg was used in snuff ‘in the 18th century,’ - and not the cephalic sort I trust.  Another conjecture though.) 

I don’t have much  confidence in my olfactories; as I’ve said, smoking tobacco considerably lessons the appreciation of good snuff, and I do like to puff on a pipe from time to time.  I’d say it is in Royal George, and Strasbourg (as Whalen found),  in spades.  Not snuffs which I regularly reach for.  Perhaps it is used in much smaller proportions in other snuffs. Maybe one of the arcane secrets of the snuff maker.  I’ll try a pinch with tonka in my attempt to recreate the snuff I bought from Smiths in the good old days, many years ago,when they did sell distinctive and distinguished snuffs, and which I haven’t found anything like, after a year of looking. 

Perhaps that Elmo’s snuff is what I’m after…   

"You don’t think that the ‘Spanish nut shells’ used for making the ‘Good English-Spanish Sort’ were mace or the husk of nutmeg? "
Mace yes, perhaps mace.

“You don’t think that the ‘Spanish nut shells’ used for making the ‘Good English-Spanish Sort’” were mace or the husk of nutmeg? Definitely not. Nutmeg would only grow in the Banda Islands of the Far East. The Spanish were quickly evicted (like all other Europeans) by the powerful Dutch East India Company, which monopolised trade in nutmeg. The Charles Lillie quote is: “Take good unsifted bale snuff, and grind it down to a fine powder. If the tobacco be too strong, mix it with the fine powder of Spanish nut-shells, which is by far the best mixture (and not at all hurtful) which can be used. “ It’s not likely that something more valuable than gold dust was used to ‘water down’ tobacco. Hazelnut shells (known as Spanish nuts or Barcelona nuts) are the likely adulteration. Any exotic interpretation of Spanish nutshells lies with the Conquistadors - and that means a plant indigenous to the New World, like cocoa. Consider the Spanish West Indies instead of the East Indies. My money, however, is on the humble hazelnut.

“There are many varieties of the hazel nut, distinguished by the size and shape, as also by the quality of the kernel. The oblong large Spanish nut is most esteemed, and in general use.” A history of the vegetable kingdom By William Rhind 1857 “The red and the white filberts ought to be in every collection, as also the Cosford- The cob nut is also desirable, because It fills and keeps well, and perhaps it may be also found eligible for certain situations, on account of its branches growing more upright than those of the other varieties. For large-sized fruit, the great cob-nut, the Downton large square nut, and the Spanish nut may be selected.” An encyclopædia of gardening: comprising the theory and practice …, Volume 1 By John Claudius Loudon 1835

I recall smoking a bunch of nutmeg sprinkled in my rollies as a teenager. I was quite invisable according to some. Can not stand the smell of it to date.

Nutmeg snuff sounds fantastic! I love it on sweets.

Perhaps nutmeg has gotten so much historical attention because of it’s psychoactive properties. I remember kids in high school eating and smoking nutmeg in huge quantity. 10-15 grams can induce vivid hallucinations and sensory effects… and potentially kill you. Check out erowid for some pretty wild “nutmeg trip” stories and explanation of the active ingredient, myristicin.

The article also mentions that nutmeg was snuffed with tobacco in India.

http://www.erowid.org/plants/nutmeg/nutmeg_article1.shtml

For the moment then not mace.  Cob nut…readily available.  The ‘Spanish’ cob or hazel nut, sounds a likely candidate.

I had not realised that nutmeg is psychoactive.  I’d therefore make it clear at this point that I can in no way advocate its use in snuff.    

My favourite quote on the subject of nutmeg comes from wikipedia:

“Myristicin poisoning is potentially deadly to some pets and livestock, and may be caused by culinary quantities of nutmeg harmless to humans. For this reason, it is recommended not to feed eggnog to dogs.”

It takes about 3-4 whole nutmeg nuts and about 6-8 hours of waiting for the Myristicin effect to happen.
I remember reading in Malcom X’s biography, he would buy nutmeg in jail when his other stimulants were not available. If I recall it would come in a 7 cent match box, and he would stir it into a glass of water.
Side effects of coming down on this stuff are nasty.

Our Potpourri No. 2 contains nutmeg flowers and I am preparing Limburger snuff which contains nutmeg oil.

Jaap Bes

Jaap.  That sounds very interesting - why is it called Limburger, if you don’t mind my asking?

A little more information on nutmeg.

Nutmeg grows well in Malaya.  Penang, where it is still a major commercial crop,  was ceded to the East India Company towards the end of the 18th Century.   My guess is that nutmeg cultivation would have followed fairly smartly.   The ease with which it could be produced in Malaya, would have put paid to the bickering about who should have it and who not.

Prices would remain quite high for some time I suppose, but nutmeg’s days as the priciest of spices were already numbered from around this time.     

 Limburger snuff!! As in Limburger cheese…I would definitely want some of that!

I don’t think nutmeg was popular because of the effects. There were a lot of other cheaper more effective readily available options back then. However it was considered an aphrodisiac. Which it was because well anything exotic will increase dopamine output and a spice that’s hard to get a hole of fits that bill perfectly.

I can’t beleive there is an actual site on this topicbut… for your interest.

I’m not at all interested in the psychoactive aspect.  I’ve just bought some whole nutmegs and started to grate one on a small (nutmeg?) rasp.  I must say that the smell of this spice as it is rasped is really marvellous, very special.  Not at all like the grotty effect in some cooking, or dried ground nutmeg.  I can see why people went crazy for this stuff.  My take on this is that a small pinch of the real freshly ground stuff has a very enlivening effect on anything you have which is a bit stale or flat.  I’m still waiting for the Royal Mail to come up with my tonka.  A pinch of this, a little Tonka, -My Mixture.    

I remember reading somewhere that a lot of puritan missionaries used to have ‘nutmeg’ rasps, so they could pep up their cocoa. Many believed it was so they could rasp their own snuff in private!

@ petersuki: I have no idea, maybe as Bart suggest that it originates from Limburg. Many snuff recipes have geographical names: Duinkerken, Amsterdammer, Rotterdammer, Marocco,

I look forward to trying this sort!

Just in case one cannot help onesself, and wants to try nutmeg for it’s psychoactive properties-and I’m not reccomending you do so. They say that “as few as two nutmegs can cause death” (probably for a lightweight child, but nonetheless, keep it in mind). I used to use it now and then as a teenager, but toxicity, and the nasty taste of nutmeg tea make me say you probably don’t want to.

I read that the comedown/hangover from Nutmeg stops most people from using it twice.

Fairly gruesome and requires a mop.

I’ve said before that’ve I had a bad experience with nutmeg, but to be completely honest, it is initially getting it down that is so terrible. For the average teenager or adult two tablespoons of nutmeg is enough for it to take a strong effect, and despite what people say, store bought pre-ground works just as well as fresh. I completely enjoyed the effects,and the comedown never gave me any problems…however…your burps will taste like strong nutmeg for the next two days, and after choking it down, that taste or even smell of it will make you gag every time. I did nutmeg all of 3 times, each time was harder to get down than the last. The fourth time I tried it, it didn’t go down, in fact everything came back up that I had eaten that day…so yeah, if you must try it, go for it, just know what you are in for and that it will ruin you on many baked goods for quite a while.

lol, so true! Although I don’t remember a hangover, but I felt very sedated during the main effect, kinda feeling stupified even sometimes. But yeah that scent did bring a slight gagging feeling. There was a certain legal psychedelic plant substance that I did a few times in my high school days that required chewing to absorb through the stomach, and by the third time or so it was very difficult to get down the hatch.