With origins from the Coast of Malabar in India, this herbaceous plant with rhizomes belongs, as ginger, to the Zingiberaceae family. Appreciated by the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans, it was initially mixed with bees wax and used as solid perfume or as toothpaste for its purifying properties. As a mountain plant, it requires a shaded and wet environment with rich humus soil. Inseparable from Indian cooking, cardamom is also widely used in Asian and African cuisine. Its peppered and slightly lemony fragrance is at the root of its stimulating qualities.