In traditional European cuisine, nutmeg and mace are used especially in potato and spinach dishes and in processed meat products; they are also used in soups, sauces, and baked goods. 

It is also commonly used in rice pudding. Nutmeg is popularly used as a baking spice in cooler months.

It has a special affinity with starchy and creamy foods and thus is the perfect way to finish butter-rich mashed potatoes, rice puddings, custards and custard tarts, bread and butter puddings and the like, and is also wonderful on such green vegetables as French beans, as long as there is also butter present Nutmeg and mace are used as a stimulant, carminative, astringent, aphrodisiac, and hallucinogen. Powder/Granules  of nutmeg or mace is employed for flavouring food products and liquors, soaps, tobacco, dental creams, and perfumery products.

Nutmeg is used as a constituent in preparations of medicines, such as for dysentery, flatulence, stomach-ache, nausea, vomiting, rheumatism, sciatica, malaria and early stages of leprosy. 

Medicinally, nutmeg is known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic, as well as anti-rheumatic, carminative and stimulant properties. In pregnancy and lactation, nutmeg is used in traditional medicine practice for antenatal and postnatal treatment

Nutmeg contains psychoactive a variety of chemicals including myristicin, elemicin, eugenol and safrole which are thought to be responsible for its psychoactive properties.

Because of its aroma, nutmeg powder has been used as a natural flavouring extract and as a perfume in the cosmetic industry. Nutmeg is a highly valued spice, known since antiquity for its aromatic, aphrodisiac, and curative properties.