Spices and herbs in general are the plants which have the fragrant, essence, and special flavor that could be added to the food to enrich flavor and color of the dishes. They are also used in producing medicine and perfume.
In the human history
They were used in food, medicine and cosmetics in different areas separately long time ago, perhaps thousands years BC. They were also the element existed in the religious rituals. They in the beginning were used in the areas such as India, Egypt, China, Greece and Arab; and then they become popular in Europe and America by the trading developed process.
For the specification of these foods (strong flavor and fragrant), the consumed quantity was not changed much, but it tends to increase by year for the expansion of cosmetic and medicine areas, and the diversification of cooking recipes all over the world.
In trading
There were periods of time they were very expensive, for example in the last years BC, the Romans even used large number of gold and silver to exchange for them. Through time these additional foods are used widely more and more from the east to the west, it could be proved by million ton of them traded in the world every year.
Till now, there are many countries join the spices trading in the world. The leading country in production of spices is India with more than 70% of spices in the world. After India, there are some countries produce spices strongly such as Bangladesh, China, Turkey, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is said that there is about nearly 10 tons of spices in trading each year.
Spices vs. herbs
Although the ancient time, there was truly not the distinction between them but through the time, it changed. They are distinguished base on the need and culinary. Culinary spices and herbs could be simply described with the typical features such as:
- Herbs are the leaves and green part of the plant which are used to garnish and increase flavor of food. They could be used fresh or dried. The dried herbs still keep the green color.
- Spices are usually made from the other parts of the plant such as: seed, root, fruit, flower or bark… and mostly used whole dried or ground. They will have different colors as whole dried and ground.
In cooking
In our daily cooking, besides main food, they couldn’t be missed. Although are used as a small amount, they play an important part in increasing the food flavor. Each type of them would be suitable with some dishes. It depends on the dishes as well as the experience of different chiefs from different areas.
There are many spices and herbs used in cuisine in the over the world. The chiefs with their creation make the different mixed spices and ways to keep the best effects of herbs in the dishes. You may find out the simple dishes with some spices and herbs but sometimes you will have chance to know about the dishes with several dozen types contained in it. The combination and creation renew and rich the world cuisine more and more.
