Spice

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark or other part of a herbaceous or woody plant used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for the purpose of flavoring, and sometimes as a preservative by killing or preventing the growth of harmful bacteria. Examples of well-known spices include pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Culinary spices are distinguished from vegetables in that spices are used in small amounts and provide flavor (similar to herbs) rather than substance to food. Some plant parts used for spices may also be used for other purposes, such as medicine, religious rituals, cosmetics, [[perfumery], or eaten as food. For example, garlic can serve as a vegetable and licorice as a medicine.

The terms herb and spice are often used interchangeable. However, some make a distinction based on what part of the plant is the source and the type of plant, restricting culinary herbs to the substance coming from the leafy part of a herbaceous plant and often used in larger amounts than spices (Herbert 2006; Spicer and Van Dyk 2003). (See spices versus herbs section.)

Overview

Many of these substances are also used for other purposes, such as food preservation, medicine, religious rituals, cosmetics, perfumery or eating as vegetables. For example, turmeric is also used as a preservative; licorice as a medicine; garlic as a vegetable and nutmeg as a recreational drug. In some cases they are referred to by different terms.

Spices versus herbs

In botany, a herb or herbaceous plant (pronounced with or without the h) technically is a seed-bearing plant (most specifically a flowering plant) that does not produce a woody stem with persistent tissue but generally dies down to the ground level each year.

In a more popular sense, the term herb is applied to any useful plant that is employed for medicinal purposes, or for culinary purposes in small quantities related to flavor (such as a condiment or seasoning), or even for spiritual uses. Likewise, the term refers to the substance obtained from the plant and used in that manner.

In this non-botanical sense, the term generally is used regardless of whether the source of the herb is a woody plant or a herbaceous plant. For example, rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is used in traditional Mediterranean cuisine and medicinally as a "herb" despite the fact that it is a woody, perennial plant. However, some limit the term herb even in the second sense of the term to herbaceous plants, particularly as related to culinary use (Spicer and VanDyk 2003; Herbert 2006).

The terms spice and herb are often used interchangeable. However, some make a distinction based on what part of the plant is the source and the type of plant. Herbert (2006) and Spicer and VanDyk (2003), for example, consider herbs to come from the leafy part of a herbaceous plant, while [spice]]s are obtained from the seeds, berries, bark, root, fruit, or other parts of the plant (even leaves in some cases) of either a herbaceous or a woody plant. For example, cilantro is a herb because it comes from the leaves of Coriandrum sativum while coriander is a spice because it comes from the seeds of the same plant (Spicer and VanDyk 2003). However, this may be more a distinction in terms of the culinary use of the terms, since "herbal medicine" utilizes many sources of plant matter.

In the kitchen, spices are distinguished from herbs, which are leafy, green plant parts used for flavoring purposes.^{[citation needed]} Herbs, such as basil or oregano, may be used fresh, and are commonly chopped into smaller pieces. Spices, however, are dried and often ground or grated into a powder. Small seeds,, such as fennel and mustard seeds, are used both whole and in powder form.

Classification and types

Shop with spices in Morocco

Salt is a very common seasoning. Because of its granular form, it is often mistakenly considered to be a spice. It is in fact a mineral product.

The basic classification of spices is as follows:

• Leaves and/or branches of aromatic plants; all or part of the plant can be used. Examples include basil, bay leaf, parsley, rosemary, tarragon, and thyme.
• Ripened fruits or seeds of plants. Examples include dill, fennel, mustard, and black pepper.
• Roots or bulbs of certain plants. Examples include garlic and ginger.

Early history

The spice trade developed throughout the Middle East in around 2000 B.C.E. with cinnamon, Indonesian cinnamon and pepper.

A recent archaeological discovery suggests that the clove, indigenous to the Indonesian island of Ternate in the Maluku Islands, could have been introduced to the Middle East very early on. Digs found a clove burnt onto the floor of a burned down kitchen in the Mesopotamian site of Terqa, in what is now modern-day Syria, dated to 1700 B.C.E. .

In the story of Genesis, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers to spice merchants. In the biblical poem Song of Solomon, the male speaker compares his beloved to many forms of spices. Generally, Egyptian, Chinese, Indian and Mesopotamian sources do not refer to known spices.

In South Asia, nutmeg, which originates from the Banda Islands in the Moluccas, has a Sanskrit name. Sanskrit is the language of the sacred Hindu texts, this shows how old the usage of this spice is in this region. Historians estimate that nutmeg was introduced to Europe in the 6th century B.C.E. .

The ancient Indian epic of Ramayana mentions cloves. In any case, it is known that the Romans had cloves in the 1st century AD because Pliny the Elder spoke of them in his writings.

Indonesian merchants went around China, India, the Middle East and the east coast of Africa. Arab merchants controlled the routes through the Middle East and India until Roman times with the discovery of new sea routes. This made the city of Alexandria in Egypt the main trading centre for spices because of its port.

Middle Ages

"The Mullus" Harvesting pepper. Illustration from a French edition of The Travels of Marco Polo.

Spices were among the most luxurious products available in Europe in the Middle Ages, the most common being black pepper, cinnamon (and the cheaper alternative cassia), cumin, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. They were all imported from plantations in Asia and Africa, which made them extremely expensive. From the 8th until the 15th century, the Republic of Venice had the monopoly on spice trade with the Middle East, and along it with the neighboring Italian city-states. The trade made the region phenomenally rich. It has been estimated that around 1,000 tons of pepper and 1,000 tons of the other common spices were imported into Western Europe each year during the Late Middle Ages. The value of these goods was the equivalent of a yearly supply of grain for 1.5 million people. While pepper was the most common spice, the most exclusive was saffron, used as much for its vivid yellow-red color as for its flavor. Spices that have now fallen into some obscurity include grains of paradise, a relative of cardamom which almost entirely replaced pepper in late medieval north French cooking, long pepper, mace, spikenard, galangal and cubeb. A popular modern-day misconception is that medieval cooks used liberal amounts of spices, particularly black pepper, merely to disguise the taste of spoiled meat. However, a medieval feast was as much a culinary event as it was a display of the host's vast resources and generosity, and as most nobles had a wide selection of fresh or preserved meats, fish or seafood to choose from, the use of ruinously expensive spices on cheap, rotting meat would have made little sense.

Early modern period

The control of trade routes and the spice-producing regions were the main reasons that Portuguese navigator Vasco Da Gama sailed to India in 1499. Spain and Portugal were not happy to pay the high price that Venice demanded for spices. At around the same time, Christopher Columbus returned from the New World, he described to investors the many new, and then unknown, spices available there.

It was Afonso de Albuquerque (1453–1515) who allowed the Portuguese to take control of the sea routes to India. In 1506, he took the island of Socotra in the mouth of the Red Sea and, in 1507, Ormuz in the Persian Gulf. Since becoming the viceroy of the Indies, he took Goa in India in 1510, and Malacca on the Malay peninsula in 1511. The Portuguese could now trade directly with Siam, China and the Moluccas. The Silk Road complemented the Portuguese sea routes, and brought the treasures of the Orient to Europe via Lisbon, many of which were spices.

Common spice mixtures

A kitchen shelf of spice.

• Colombo (paprika, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, ginger, black pepper, star anise, cardamom, cloves, mustard grains, saffron)
• Curry powder (Indian-style, used in the West and Japan)
• Five bays
• Five-spice powder (China)
• Masalas, including garam masala (India)]
• Quatre épices (France)
• Ras el hanout (Middle East/North Africa)
• Za'atar (Middle East)
• Pumpkin pie spice (United States)
• Old Bay Seasoning (United States)

Production

Wikibooks Cookbook has more about this subject:

Spice

Production in tonnes. Figures 2003-2004 Researched by FAOSTAT (FAO)
India	1 600 000	86 %	1 600 000	86 %
China	99 000	5 %	99 000	5 %
Bangladesh	48 000	3 %	48 000	3 %
Pakistan	45 300	2 %	45 300	2 %
Nepal	15 500	1 %	15 500	1 %
Other countries	60 900	3 %	60 910	3 %
Total	1 868 700	100 %	1 868 710	100 %

Further reading

• Turner, Jack (2004). Spice: The History of a Temptation. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-40721-9. 
• Food Bacteria-Spice Survey Shows Why Some Cultures Like It Hot Quote: “...Garlic, onion, allspice and oregano, for example, were found to be the best all-around bacteria killers (they kill everything)...Top 30 Spices with Antimicrobial Properties...”
• August 18, 1998, Common Kitchen Spices Kill E. Coli O157:H7 Quote: “...The study is the first in the United States that looks at the effect of common spices on E. coli O157:H7. Previous studies have concluded spices kill other foodborne pathogens. “In the first part of our study, we tested 23 spices against E. coli O157:H7 in the laboratory,” Fung said. “We found that several spices are good at killing this strain of E. coli.”...”
• The Lure and Lore of Spices Quote: “If the appearance of spices were to reflect their real importance in the history of the world, the bottles of spices would be filled with bright glittery substances, diamonds, rubies, emeralds or gold would be appropriate. When you opened the bottle, a poof of vibrantly colored, mystically fragrant, magical smoke would slowly billow softly throughout the room.”

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/03/980305053307.htm Food Bacteria-Spice Survey Shows Why Some Cultures Like It Hot ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 1998)

• Adamson, Melitta Weiss (2004), Food in Medieval Times. ISBN 0-313-32147-7.
• Scully, Terence (1995), The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages. ISBN 0-85115-611-8.

• Herbert, S. 2006. Spices versus herbs: What's the difference? Ezine Articles. Retrieved December 2, 2007.

• Spicer, F., and J. VanDyk. 2003. Herbs vs. spices. Integrated Pest Management at Iowa State University. Retrieved December 2, 2007.

External links

• Enspicelopedia at McCormick.com
• Tips on selecting, storing, and using spices at MyRecipes.com

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