I recently discovered the spice ‘Mace’ when I made the Traditional Plum Puddings. Mace is a traditional plum pudding ingredient.
Mace is the lacey outer layer of the nutmeg seed. It has a similar flavour to the nutmeg seed, which we commonly buy ground, but it is less intense. It is a regular spice added to Indian curries.
We stock it at Maxi Foods Ballarat in the gourmet herbs and spice section. It will soon be available in Castlemaine as well. I provide some images which I sourced from Google images and Pinterest. The nutmeg seed (black) and the mace (red), in situ, is particularly beautiful.