Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first written record of cardamom dates back to the third millennium BCE, appearing on clay tablets in the palace archives of Mycenae under the Linear B script as ka-da-mi-ja. This ancient flavoring was traded along routes controlled by Dilmun and the Persian Gulf long before the Roman Empire rose.
True cardamom comes from the species Elettaria cardamomum with light green, triangular pods, while black cardamom comes from the species Amomum subulatum and is native to the eastern Himalayas. Black cardamom possesses a smoky aroma with a coolness that some compare to mint, and its pods are dark brown and significantly larger than the small, spindle-shaped green pods.
The cultivation of cardamom begins in the forests of India where small plots of land known as eld-kandies are cleared during February and March. The harvest occurs between October and November, though exceptionally moist weather can extend the season into December, and the fruits are dried and bleached using sun, steam, or sulphurous vapour.
In 1979, a dramatic shift occurred in the global spice market when Guatemala surpassed India in worldwide production by cultivating Elettaria cardamomum. Today, the Alta Verapaz Department produces 70 percent of Guatemala's cardamom, while India ranks second in world production but consumes 95 percent of what it grows.
The essential oil content of cardamom seeds can reach as high as 8 percent and is typically 45 percent alpha-terpineol, 27 percent myrcene, and 8 percent limonene. Other sources report varying contents including 1,8-cineol at 20 to 50 percent and alpha-terpenylacetate at 30 percent, highlighting the variability in chemical composition across different species and growing conditions.
In 2022, world production of cardamom was 138,888 tonnes, led by India, Indonesia, and Guatemala, which together accounted for 85 percent of the total. Cardamom is currently ranked the third most expensive spice in the world, following saffron and vanilla, and 80 percent of its total consumption occurs in the Middle East.