Cloves Another type of spice that is also frequently used in cooking is cloves. Cloves are used in various cuisines, and particularly in Indian and Asian cooking. The forms of cloves, both dry and whole are used in the same way as most spices are known for, most of the time depending on the type of cuisine and aroma that most chefs and cooks would require when it comes to enhancing their various dishes. Cloves also have other uses besides a seasoning in cooking. Some parts of Asia use cloves as a type of cigarette known as Kretek, some use cloves as an aroma therapy additive and some people also make use of cloves for the aromatic benefits to help freshen breath through chocolate bars and such. Toothaches are also another reliant remedy that cloves provide, providing the necessary soothing relief for such painful occurrences. Clove can also be transformed into oil like compound, the product of which is used in aroma therapy, another key use that was mentioned earlier on for health conservative individuals. Also, cloves are also used as cleansing compounds for microscopy procedures. History of Cloves Cloves can be traced to the native land of the Molucca Islands, Indonesia. These spices have been in existence and are being used for quite some time. In ancient history, being known to have a very good aromatic smell, cloves were used by early people, like the Chinese so that they will have appealing breath upon meeting with the emperors of their times. Cloves were a rare commodity in these early years, this commodity was believed to be a key spice that most countries fought over in the early days, each wanting to supply enough for their own. Wars were fought in Europe and with native islanders to secure rights to the profitable Clove business. For the natives of Molucca Islands, they practiced a tradition of planting one clove tree every time a newly born baby was introduced to the world. They had closely associated the life of the child to the tree and it was believed that the fate of the infant was in close relation to the fate of the clove plant. At one point in the early times, the Dutch destroyed Clove trees by burning them down and raised the value of uprooted clove plants prices. This caused the local folks to revolt during the early times something that was pretty evident considering the importance and value of the clove in the early years as among the more rare herbs and spices that people were looking for. The demand for such an herb early on was so significant that most countries wanted to harvest their own and keep supplies to themselves to answer the great demand and need for it back then. Known Uses of Cloves There are quite a number of uses that cloves provide towards people both in the medical and normal aspect of lives. Such uses include the following: