Quick question about whole cloves

[piratesmate]

Does anyone know if you can eat the whole cloves that you use to stud the outside of a baked ham? I was told that you had to remove them - that they'd make you sick. Has anyone else ever heard that?

Thanks!

d

 

[Maleficent2]

they should not make you sick per say.

That being said I have a adversion to clove and it does give me a tummy ache. But clove oil is the main ingriendient in alot of dental remedies.

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/cloves76.html

http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/generic_frame.html?Syzy_aro.html


Mal

 

[piratesmate]

Thanks, Mal! I had heard that clove oil was in dental remedies & even that biting on a whole clove was the treatment for a toothache pre-modern medicine. I also have made recipes that call for ground cloves. I just wasn't sure if there was some difference between the oil, the ground & the whole cloves. . . like they don't grind the whole thing?

One of my grandmothers used to tell me that you had to remove the cloves & couldn't eat them. I just never questioned it until I got married. The first time DH caught me pulling all the cloves out before slicing the ham he laughed at me. It's been a running "argument" ever since.

d

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

I have a cookie recipe (Christmas Rocks) that call for cloves. I used to put whole cloves in. They won't make you violently ill if you eat them. But, if you did bite into one, you would know it. It can be a pretty overpowering taste. I have since moved on to ground cloves.

 

[Saffron]

Haha! I love the taste of clove, but I always take the whole cloves out of anything I cook. I can't imagine biting into a whole clove!

 

[Baboo]

Well, I guess that I'm living proof that it won't kill you! I have been known to chew on a whole clove. I love the taste and smell of cloves.

 

[piratesmate]

Thanks everybody! I still pulled the cloves out of the ham last night - I just can't imagine EATING one, although I love the taste & use quite a few when preparing the ham. It's good to know I won't "poison" someone if they get one by mistake.

Deb

And yes, I've always been this gullible! If my parents or grandparents told me something I believed it. You'd think I'd have learned by now.