Allspice or pimento (Pimento dioica)
MYRTACEAE, Myrtle Family
From an evergreen tree of the West Indies (Pimento dioica) comes allspice. This spice, which is used in flavoring pickles, ketchup, sausages, gravies, fruit cakes, and pies, is obtained from dried, unripe fruits. Allspice has been used as a common name in this country because its flavor resembles a mixture of three Asian species, clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon. The allspice fruit superficially resembles a peppercorn (Piper nigrum). Ironically, when Columbus showed natives of the West Indies some peppercorns, the peppercorns were mistaken by them for their own spice. The Spanish name for peppercorn, "pimiento," became "pimento" for the New World spice. This should not be confused with pimentos, which are a type of chili pepper (Capsicum).
The Mayans formerly used allspice in embalming their leaders, and today is used in perfumes. Allspice the spice must have been widely used throughout the West Indies, because during colonial times the pirates used allspice to marinate meat, probably to disguise bad flavors; this meat was called buccon (French), and these pirates were called buccaneers, or so the tale goes. Allspice has been an important but never a critical major spice of the world, and, perhaps surprisingly, has been successfully grown for production only in the New World. This spice is an important ingredient in Chartreuse and Benedictine liqueurs.