Did We Ask for High-Fashion Cloves?

Those quick trips to the market get more expensive every day--especially if you just need a jar of cloves. Many supermarkets now sell 1.25-ounce bottles of whole cloves for $8.25. At one local market, that size bottle of Schilling cloves sold for a shocking $9.25. You’d think you were buying saffron or something.

There’s certainly no clove shortage--there are approximately 500,000 clove farmers in Indonesia, the largest clove crop producer, followed by Madagascar, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Grenada. (Cloves are the sun-dried buds of the clove tree.)

What’s going on?

Mac Barrett, spokesperson for McCormick & Co. Inc., makers of Schilling spices, says the suggested retail price for its gourmet line of cloves--the glass bottle with the dark-green cap--is $6.63 for a 1.25-ounce jar.

“Frankly,” says Anita Fial, spokeswoman for the American Spice Trade Assn., “I’m a little surprised at $9.25 for a jar of cloves. Supermarkets charge whatever they feel they would like to make, and the consumer pays for it.”

Part of the problem is that many markets are stocking only “gourmet” cloves.

And what are gourmet cloves?

“Penang cloves. The creme de la creme of cloves,” Fial says. “Each is hand-selected so that every head is perfect.”

But, Fial stresses, these are not cloves for everyday ham- or orange-studding. She suggests using the fancy buds in a dish where every clove counts--maybe the rich Greek butter cookies Kourabiedes.

So where do you get the not-so-perfect affordable cloves? Warehouse stores sell spices in bulk. Or tell your supermarket manager to buy the cheaper, plastic-bottled line of spices. “All major spice companies also produce one,” says Fial, “and customers still have a voice.”

If you’re stuck, Fial says, you might use ground cloves and prepare your ham the way she often does: Mix ground cloves with cinnamon and brown sugar and rub it over the ham. “Then perhaps,” she says, “ ‘symbolically’ use a few whole cloves to decorate.

“I can buy a jacket for $100,” adds Fial, “or I go and buy a Chanel for $2,000. But a plain old jacket serves me just as well, if not better. It’s knowing how to use what you have.” In other words, be cloves-conscious.