McCormick Gourmet Whole Cloves are essential for home cooks who enjoy simmering stews, slow cooking pot roasts and creating their own pickling blends. One of the world’s oldest spices, they bring spicy warmth and sweet pungent flavor to your kitchen. A favorite for the winter holidays, cloves add warm, spicy-sweet flavor to mulled cider or red wine, eggnog and poached fruit. For baked ham, score a diamond pattern into the ham’s surface and stud each section with a whole clove before glazing. Cloves are an essential year-round flavoring in Vietnamese pho and Chinese five-spice powder. Prized in northern Indian cuisine, they appear in the spice blend garam masala, in the spiced tea chai, and in recipes for meat and vegetable curries.