It seems every day of the year has a celebration linked with it. June 10th is National Herbs and Spices day. Herbs are leaves that can add flavor to a dish, scent a space or be used medicinally or for religious rituals. Spices are the seeds, bark, stems, roots, bulbs or rhizomes, fruit or flowers from the plant. They also can be used in all the same ways. The first documented use of herbs and spices was that of garlic about 4500 years ago. Since then, they have made their ways around the world, causing new routes to be made and fortunes to be made or plundered.
Herbs are often easy to grow, but can be expensive if purchased in a clamshell at a grocery store. Growing your own allows easy and quick access for flavoring. Grab what you need, whack it off and chop it up. The tender leaf herbs are better used fresh than when dried. The woodier ones like rosemary can be used fresh or dried. A culinary tip: If a recipe calls for a tablespoon of fresh herb, a teaspoon of the same herb dried will add the flavor. Adding the fresh herb in the last few minutes of cooking will help you get the more intense, desired flavor. Italian chefs add the fresh basil to the sauce only in the last 5 or so minutes of cooking. On the other hand, dried herbs are better added at the beginning of the cooking process to allow them to rehydrate and flavor the dish. Of course, if you open the bottle of dried herb and can't smell much of anything, no amount of rehydration will get the flavor back. It's better to head off to the store for a new bottle.
Spices are better purchased whole and then ground when needed. Toasting (usually in a dry pan) also intensifies the flavor. I have a friend who makes fresh chai every morning with spices that she buys in small batches monthly and grinds fresh every morning. It is a bit of work, but when she shares her chai with her very appreciative co-workers, the day has a bright start and a cup that is infinitely better than any you can get at a drive-up coffee business!
How well do you know your herbs and spices? Here is a quick quiz.
- What part of the orchid is responsible for the vanilla bean?
- Why is saffron so expensive?
- What is the term used for the study of herbs, spices and plants used by different cultures or societies in different parts of the world?
- Identify 2 plants that provide both an herb and a spice.
- True or False. The “New World” provided allspice, vanilla and capsicum peppers to the list of herbs and spices worldwide.
Answers:
1. The bean is the fruit.
2. Each female Crocus sativus that produces saffron has only 3 stigmata that have to be hand-picked by 7 AM in late October into November and then sun-dried. About 170,000 harvested flowers will produce one pound of saffron.
3. Ethnobotany
4. Coriander seed (a spice) comes from the cilantro plant (an herb). Dill seed is the spice that comes from the dill weed, the ferny looking herb often seen adorning Costco salmon.
5. True. These 3 are counted as the most recognized contributions from the “New World” to the list of herbs and spices. Most herbs and spices used today originated in Central Asia and the Mediterranean region. The Native Americans used many indigenous herbs medicinally and for sacred rites.