Cloves

Farm-raised mussels may suffer from a subtle loss of flavor, a certain briny taste and texture that comes from clinging to ocean rocks. But, as a food preparer, I love the convenience of farm-raised mussels that don't have scraggly, tough-to-remove beards or weeks of barnacle build-up. In fact, farm-raised mussels are as convenient as canned tuna, but a whole lot more interesting to prepare.

I'll never forget the time a temporary crown fell out of my mouth on a weeklong trip 3,000 miles from home. Ah, memories: the gross feeling against my tongue of the little stump of tooth; the jolting pain whenever I forgot for a moment and chugged back an ice-cool gulp of water; my futile attempts to push the crown back into place in the hope that this time, this time, it'd stay put--even though it had instantly fallen back out the prior 25 times. . . .

For those of us who love food and study its history, one of the most vexing questions is how an ingredient of humble origins suddenly becomes a sought-after delicacy that appears on fancy tables from L.A. to London. As often as not, the ingredient's original purpose is forgotten because chefs don't bother to find out how it is used in its native land.

They used a lot of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg in medieval Europe, but what cooks really wished they had more of was cloves. No spice is more pungent and fragrant, and none holds its aroma longer--an important consideration back when spices spent months or years reaching their destinations. A clove is a dried flower bud, and it's so woody that the Greek name for it, "caryophyllon," means nut-leaf. The name got rather worn down over the centuries.

To Americans, cinnamon means Cinnamomum cassia, known in the spice trade as Chinese cinnamon because it's largely cultivated in China and Burma. A cinnamon stick is the bark from a 10-year-old cinnamon tree. Once in a while you'll see a spice called cassia buds, which are dried unripe Chinese cinnamon fruits. They also have a heady cinnamon aroma.

It can kill a romantic evening in a hurry, but can it cure cancer? The answer likely depends on just how big a fan of garlic you are. Sure, it's a good way to jazz up a pot of spaghetti sauce, but the most pungent member of the lily family has begun to gain a kind of cult following in the United States as a health food. It has been credited, variously, with being a retardant of carcinogens, a reducer of heart disease, an aid to digestion and a killer of harmful bacteria.

A forest fire raging in northern Sumatra has destroyed 400,000 clove trees and 2,500 acres of pine forests for an estimated loss of at least $25 million, the newspaper Merdeka reported Friday. It said the fire threatens thousands more acres of commercial crops and forests in Aceh province, about 1,125 miles northwest of Jakarta.

  Neapolitan-style ragu Total time: About 6 hours Servings: 6 to 8 Note: From Russ Parsons. The pork butt cooked in this recipe is not part of the final dish; it flavors the sauce as it cooks and is to be served separately. 2 pounds boneless pork butt, in 1 piece 2 teaspoons salt, divided, more to taste Pepper 2 tablespoons finely minced parsley 1 pound onions, chopped 4 cloves garlic 1/3 cup chopped pancetta 1/4 cup chopped prosciutto 1/4 cup olive oil 2 cups dry red wine 1 (6-ounce)