Unbeknownst to most of us (myself included until just a few days ago), today is National Herb and Spice Day, so let’s spice things up a bit in its honor!
I’m not sure who decided that the second Sunday in June would be designated as such, but I’m happy to honor the many amazing flavors that make the culinary world go round, not to mention propelling our taste buds into song.
But what makes an herb an herb and a spice a spice, you wonder?
It depends on the part of the plant used.
Herbs are the edible leaves or stems of plants, and spices are their dried seeds, pods, buds, roots, fruits or bark.
Online encyclopedia Wikipedia adds the phrase “vegetative substance” to their definition of spice, and truly spices are comprised of a wide variety of plant components.
Let’s look at a few examples to prove this point.
Ginger is a rhizome and turmeric a root. Mustard, fennel, caraway, fenugreek and cumin are seeds.
Cloves are dried buds, chili peppers are fruits, and cardamom and star anise are seed pods. Cinnamon is bark, and nutmeg is the kernel of a fruit, with mace being its lacy covering.
Black pepper and pink peppercorns are both dried berries, but are not related to each other.
I’m extremely grateful for the first folks who decided to taste bark, roots, seeds and the like so that the generations of humankind who followed them could eat their meals with blissful flavor.
Some plants bless us with both herbs and spices.
For example, dill weed is an herb since it’s comprised of the leaves of the dill plant, while the dill seed used in pickling or to flavor some rye bread is a spice.
Recent column topic cilantro (also known as coriander or Chinese parsley) is another example. When we use the leaves and stems, it’s considered an herb, while whole or ground coriander seeds are a spice.
Some spices, though not many, are known as being “hot” because of chemicals they contain. Capsaicin in chili peppers and piperine in black pepper berries irritate the tissues of our mouth, giving us the sensation we refer to as “hot” or “spicy.”
It’s estimated that spices have been used since about 50,000 B.C., with local spice trading developing as early as 2,000 B.C.
In the Middle East such trading was centered on cinnamon and pepper, and in East Asia, herbs and pepper. Ancient Egyptians used spices in embalming, and their need for them encouraged broad trade.
During the middle ages in Europe, spices were among the most expensive and sought after products. While some spices of this era – grains of paradise, spikenard and galangal, for example – have gone out of fashion, others, like black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin and cloves, are still in popular use today.
Such flavorings were the source of bloody wars fought by Europeans for control of the lands where they grew. Command of this lucrative trade went back and forth over the centuries.
Today our spice shelves are easily stocked. We have a wide variety of herbs and spices at our fingertips, and more exotic spices are available with very little effort.
I love broadening my spice horizons by going to specialty shops that carry little-known flavors from around the world. I get excited learning while I browse.
Sometimes it’s tough not to bring something home.
Recent acquisitions include such things as mahlab from Turkey, used to add a sweet-sour, nutty taste to sweet breads and desserts; charnushka from India, tiny black seeds that top rye bread or flavor sausages; and ground Mediterranean sumac berries, popular as a tabletop condiment in that region, which add fruity sourness and a soft red color to foods.
Ground spices deteriorate far more quickly than those in whole form. About six months is the average “flavor life” of a ground spice, while whole spice holds its flavor for up to two years.
Whole spice may be ground just before use in a spice grinder or dedicated coffee grinder. For smaller batches, a fine grater (my favorite is a Microplane zester) may be used.
An old school method of grinding spices is crushing them via a mortar and pestle. Since this method has come into vogue in recent years, a well-stocked kitchen store will have a few different styles of this ancient implement from which to choose.
Some spices, like nutmeg, don’t lend themselves to grinding whole and will always need to be grated; however, it goes quickly and is easily done.
Toasting whole spices in a dry skillet just before grinding intensifies their flavor and, as an added bonus, makes your kitchen smell absolutely heavenly.
As to storage, keep dried herbs and spices in tightly closed containers in a relatively cool, dark, dry place. Humidity, heat, and light are their flavor enemies.
Spice blends have evolved in different areas of the world depending on what was grown or traded there, giving each region its own unique flavor profile.
In the African counties of Ethiopia and Eritrea, for example, superhot spice blend berbere is used to flavor dishes. It can be a powder or a puree, and is a blend of fenugreek, cardamom, lots of hot cayenne pepper, and an array of optional ingredients. (To tone down the heat, paprika can be substituted for much of the cayenne.)
Ras el hanout is an exotic spice blend from Morocco. It’s sweet and spicy-hot, containing up to as many as 50 flavors, including some rare items not found at the local grocery. Floral notes can come from such ingredients as dried rosebuds and aniseed.
The Indian spice blend we’re most familiar with is curry, despite the fact that premade curry powder is nonexistent in that country, being an invention of the west.
Instead, Indian cooks make their own blends for each recipe, grinding small batches frequently.
Garam masala, a standard Indian spice blend, is the inspiration for our curry powder; however, it’s made without the yellow color supplied by turmeric and nutty flavor from fenugreek in our versions of the blend.
It’s a somewhat sweet mix containing coriander, ginger, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Other spices are blended in according to the cook’s taste and whim, and it’s typically used in milder dishes that are often finished with yogurt to make a creamy sauce.
If you’d like to try your hand at making this popular seasoning, today’s recipe offerings are two versions of Indian-inspired garam masala. One version is traditional, using whole spices, and the other is a super easy “cheater” version using ground spices to save a few steps.
Treat your taste buds to something new today by making spice the variety of life! Enjoy.
Traditional Garam Masala
4 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 ½ teaspoons black cumin seeds (shahjeera)
1 ½ teaspoons dry ginger
¾ teaspoon black cardamom (approx. 3 to 4 large pods)
¾ teaspoon whole cloves
¾ teaspoon stick cinnamon (2-by-1-inch pieces)
¾ teaspoon crushed bay leaves
Heat a heavy skillet on a medium flame and gently roast all ingredients (leave cardamom in its pods till later) except the dry ginger, till they turn a few shades darker. Stir occasionally. Do not be tempted to speed up the process by turning up the heat as the spices will burn on the outside and remain raw on the inside.
When the spices are roasted turn off the heat and allow them to cool.
Once cooled, remove the cardamom seeds from their skins and mix them back with all the other roasted spices.
Grind them all together to a fine powder in a clean, dry coffee grinder.
Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.
Recipe courtesy of www.indiancooking.about.com .
Easy Garam Masala
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
1 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom
1 ½ ground pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoons ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Store mixture in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
This recipe is courtesy of www.allrecipes.com .
Esther Oertel, a freelance writer, cooking teacher, and speaker, is passionate about local produce and all foods in the vegetable kingdom. She welcomes your questions and comments and may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .