Spices

Spices, aromatic flavorings made from parts of plants. The term spice is usually applied to pungent plant products, especially plants native to tropical Asia and the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, of Indonesia. It frequently also includes herbs, which are the fragrant leaves of herbaceous plants, many of which are native to temperate regions. With few exceptions, the spices and herbs known today were being used early in human history. Spice trade with the Orient was flourishing well before the advent of Christianity. The discovery of many spices probably predates the earliest civilizations, when primitive humans were attracted to the aromatic effects produced by what are now called essential oils, which are found in various plant parts. Interestingly, many of the same oils that attracted humans evolved in nature as toxins or repellents against animals; the leaves of the mint plant and the bark of the cinnamon tree, for example, evolved as protection against grass-eating ungulates and bark-boring insects.

Besides their long use in preserving foods and enhancing food flavor, spices and herbs played important, sometimes magical, roles in medicine. Before the advent of industrially prepared medicines, herbal remedies were commonly prescribed and were often effective, as some practitioners are now rediscovering.

Types of Spices and Herbs

The great variety of herb and spice flavors are produced from nearly all parts of plants, from the leaves to the roots. Among those producing fragrant leaves are basil, rosemary, sage, savory, tarragon, and thyme, all of which are small annual or perennial plants. Bayleaf, or sweet laurel, used to flavor meats, sauces, and vinegars, comes from a shrub or tree.

Among the many spices derived from the ripe fruit or seeds of plants are aniseed (see Anise), caraway seed, chili peppers, coriander seed, dillseed (see Dill), fennel seed, juniper berry, mustard seed, nutmeg, pepper, poppy seed, and sesame seed. Licorice-flavored aniseed, which comes from Pimpinella anisum, a member of the carrot family, is used whole for baking and as an essential oil in candies and the liquors absinthe and anisette. Juniper berry, used to flavor gin, comes from the low evergreen shrub Juniperus communis. The strongest mustard seed comes from black mustard, Brassica nigra, which was probably the large plant mentioned in the Bible and which now grows in Israel to a height of 3.7 m (12 ft). Mustard seed releases its pungent flavor when its powder is moistened. The flavor is preserved by lemon juice, vinegar, or wine in prepared mustard. Nutmeg is the seed of an apricotlike fruit of the tropical evergreen tree Myristica fragrans. The red sheath around the seed is made into mace, another spice used to flavor pickles, ketchups, and sauces. Sesame seeds were ground into flour by the Egyptians and used by the Chinese 5000 years ago. The pearly, nut-flavored seeds, used especially in Middle Eastern cooking, come from the annual Sesasmun indicum and are scattered by the drying pod, making hand harvesting necessary.

Among the spices derived from roots are garlic and ginger. Garlic, Allium sativum, which is a bulb made up of many cloves and closely related to the onion, originated in Central Asia and is one of the oldest spices. Ginger comes from the fleshy, aromatic, bulblike rhizomes of the perennial Zingiber officinale. The rhizomes are sold commercially as gingerroot or dried and ground into ginger powder. The essential oil is used to make ginger-flavored beverages, sauces, and chutneys.

Culinary herbs are such as basil, bergamot, borage, caraway, chamomile, chervil, cicely, cinnamon, coriander, cress, cumin, dill, fennel, lemon balm, marjoram, mint, mustard, parsley, rosemary, sage, spearmint, summer savory, sweet woodruff, tarragon, thyme, and wild bergamot.

learn more: Herbs; Spices.

Basil

Basil, common name for any of a genus of plants of the mint family. Basil is a sweet herb used for fragrance and as a seasoning for food. Sweet basil is an annual plant, a native of warm climates, about 30 cm (about 12 in) high, with ovate stalked leaves, and has long been cultivated in Europe. Bush basil is a small cultivated form. Basil, or mountain mint, is also a common name for plants of a separate, North American genus of the mint family.

Scientific classification: Basil belongs to the family Lamiaceae (formerly Labiatae). Sweet basil is classified as Ocimum basilicum and bush basil as Ocimum minimum. Mountain mints are classified in the genus Pycnanthemum.

Wild Bergamot

Wild Bergamot, a culinary herb, member of the mint family, named for the Italian bergamot orange, which has a similar scent. It is also called bee balm, because it attracts bees, and Oswego tea, because Native Americans of the Oswego tribe used it to make a medicinal tea. It was introduced into cultivation by American botanist John Bertram in 1744, who found it growing on the shores of Lake Ontario in the United States. It was widely used for brewing tea during the boycott of British tea that followed the Boston Tea Party of 1773. Wild bergamot is native to eastern North America from New York to Michigan and south to Georgia and Tennessee. It survives winter temperatures as low as -34° C (-30° F). It is best adapted to moist soils in full sun to partial shade.

Wild bergamot is a herbaceous perennial, a plant with soft, green stems that lives for more than two growing seasons. The aboveground portions die each year after the first freeze, but the plant regrows from the roots each spring. The stems of wild bergamot form clumps and grow to a height of about 60 to 120 cm (about 2 to 4 ft). The stems are four-sided and may have some hairs when young but become hairless with age. The leaves are about 10 cm (about 4 in) long and may be either heart shaped or pointed at the tip and rounded at the base. They can be smooth or slightly hairy and have toothed edges and a strong mint scent. They are attached in pairs to leaf stems that are about 0.7 cm (about 0.3 in) long.

Wild bergamot blooms from midsummer to fall with flowers that are usually red, but may be pink, mauve, or white. The flowers are arranged in broad, flat-topped clusters at the end of stems. Each flower has a long tube, divided at the end into two flaring lips. The lower lip is divided into three segments and the tube is hairy on the inside. Wild bergamot has underground stems, called rhizomes, from which new plants grow, enabling it to spread aggressively. It can become a problem weed in a garden unless the spread of the roots is blocked by an underground barrier.

Wild bergamot is commonly grown as a garden plant. The dried leaves can be brewed to make a tea with sedative effects that is said to relieve nausea. The herb adds a sweet flavor and fragrance to desserts, jellies, and soft cheeses. The leaves are used to scent candles, perfumes, and potpourri.

Scientific classification: Wild bergamot is a member of the family Lamiaceae (formerly Labiatae). It is classified as Monarda didyma.

Borage

Borage, common name for a large, widely distributed family of flowering plants (see Mint), and for its representative genus. The family contains about 154 genera and 2500 species, found throughout the temperate and subtropical regions of the world but centered in the Mediterranean area. Plants vary widely in habit from annuals to perennials and from herbs to shrubs to trees. They usually have rough hairs on the stems and leaves. The inflorescence (flower cluster) is characteristic of the family. It is spirally coiled and unrolls and straightens from the base as the flowers open. The insect-pollinated flowers are regular (radially symmetrical) with five-lobed corollas (fused petals) that are funnel-shaped or bell-shaped. The ovary is deeply lobed and matures into a fruit consisting of four nutlets. In addition to horticultural subjects, the family provides timber, dyes, and medicinal plants. One species of borage, native to Europe and North Africa, has been used as a culinary herb since the Middle Ages. It is a grayish-green, hairy annual about 60 cm (about 24 in) high, now mostly grown for its attractive little blue, white-centered flowers. Virginia bluebell, heliotrope, and forget-me-not are also members of this family.

Scientific classification: Borage is the common name for the family Boraginaceae. The species used as a culinary herb is classified as Borago officinalis.

Caraway

Caraway, common name for a plant that has long been cultivated in temperate zones for its aromatic fruit, called caraway seeds. These seeds are used in cookery, confectionery, and medicine. The caraway plant is a biennial herb; it grows up to 61 cm (up to 2 ft) high and has finely divided leaves and clusters of white flowers. The large oil glands of the seed contain caraway oil, which is used to flavor the liqueur aquavit. This oil is also used in perfumery and in pharmacy as an aromatic stimulant and as a flavoring agent.

Scientific classification: The caraway plant belongs to the family Apiaceae (formerly Umbelliferae). It is classified as Carum carvi.

Wild Chamomile

Wild Chamomile, a culinary herb with daisylike flowers that are dried and brewed as a soothing tea reputed to aid indigestion, calm muscle spasms, and relieve the pain and swelling of arthritis. A member of the composite flower family, it is also called sweet false chamomile and German chamomile, to distinguish it from the closely related true or Roman chamomile. Wild chamomile is native to the temperate regions of Europe and western Asia. It has become naturalized in North America, where it grows wild. It grows best in poor, sandy soil in full sun.

Wild chamomile is an annual, a plant that lives only one growing season. It reaches about 60 to 75 cm (about 2 to 2.5 ft) in height and has an upright, branching main stem. The bright green leaves, about 5.5 cm (about 2.2 in) long, are strongly apple-scented and finely divided, resembling fern leaves. The flowerhead is about 2.5 cm (about 1 in) in diameter. The yellow center of the flowerhead, which consists of disk flowers, is hollow and shaped like a cone. White petal-like ray flowers surround the center and curve slightly downward. Wild chamomile blooms all summer.

In addition to its medicinal use, wild chamomile is used as a fungicide for controlling a fungal disease that causes young seedlings to rot at the surface of the soil. It is also grown as a garden plant for its scented, attractive leaves and flowers. It has also been called “physician’s plant,” because it is reputed to restore vigor to ailing plants if it is planted beside them. However, because it produces abundant seeds, it can become a troublesome weed if the flowerheads are not removed after they bloom. The flowers are an ingredient in herbal shampoos and can be used to make a yellow dye.

Scientific classification: Wild chamomile belongs to the Asteroideae subfamily of the family Asteraceae (formerly Compositae). The most widely recognized scientific name for wild chamomile is Matricaria recutita, although some sources refer to it as Matricaria chamomilla and others as Chamomilla recutita.