Cloves are the rich, brown, dried, unopened flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum, an evergreen tree in the myrtle family. The name comes from the French "clou" meaning nail. Cloves (Eugenia aromatica) are native to the Molucca Islands, now a part of Indonesia. Cloves have been used for thousands of years. One of the earliest references to them says that the Chinese, in order to approach the emperor, had to have a few Cloves in their mouths to sweeten the breath. They are almost as expensive as saffron because crops often fail, they are much used in Western cooking and the oil is antiseptic. Cloves are used in Mussaman curry and to chew as a relief for toothache. The dried, aromatic flower buds of an evergreen of the myrtle family native to Southeast Asia, cloves are normally used whole , but the central "head" of the bud can also be ground into a powder. They are used in sweet and savoury dishes, spiced wines and liqueurs. Available in a whole or powder form. In Thai cuisine, cloves are added to curries and they also go very well with tomatoes, salty vegetables and ham. In Thailand, cloves have traditionally been chewed with betel leaves. Medicinally, Thais believe that cloves kill bacteria and also act as an antispasmodic. Cloves can be chewed after meals, as some Thais do, to aid digestion.