Mace

Where it comes from

Mace is the red, lacy aril (a sort of webbing) that wraps the nutmeg seed inside the Myristica fragrans fruit. After splitting open the ripe yellow fruit, workers carefully peel off the aril, press it flat, and dry it from bright red to a warm orange-brown. The seed becomes nutmeg, the aril becomes mace, and the two trade at roughly the same price by weight, with mace usually slightly higher.

Flavor & pairing

Mace shares much of nutmeg’s warm sweetness but adds brighter, more citrusy aromatics and a slightly more delicate finish. It pairs with white meats, dairy, eggs, cherry, stone fruit, and butter — anything that benefits from a subtle warm aromatic.

How it’s used

Indian biryani and kewra-perfumed Mughal rice often use mace alongside nutmeg. Classical French charcuterie tucks it into pâtés and terrines. English pickling spice and Victorian beef and oyster pies relied on it. American donut shop “donut spice” uses both mace and nutmeg. Béchamel sauces sometimes use mace where the cook wants nutmeg’s flavor without its assertive bite.

Trade history

Mace once outranked nutmeg in European luxury markets because the aril yields are smaller and the harvesting more delicate.