Spices 101: An Introduction

If you've eaten in my kitchen you know that I love herbs and spices. I have an entire drawer dedicated to my many spices and it’s to the point where I’m introducing some into another drawer since I've run out of space. Am I a hoarder? I like to think I’m more of a scientist and my kitchen is my lab. I like to use, taste, and experience them, and even I have my limits with how many I "need." My favorite thing is when I order new spices in the mail and open them up for the first time - the aroma is invigorating! I love trying new flavors, and with spices, there are infinite possibilities.

This photo was taken months ago... the collection has grown.

So what’s the difference between an herb and a spice?

An herb is a plant or plant part valued for its medicinal, savory, or aromatic qualities like basil, rosemary, sage, and thyme. A spice is a substance (such as pepper or nutmeg) that is used in cooking to add flavor to food and that comes from a dried plant and is usually a powder or seed. While the words spice and herb are sometimes used interchangeably and both have health benefits, spices aren't as commonly used for medicinal purposes as herbs. For example, chamomile is an herb, but not a spice. On the other hand, some herbs can also be a spice, like ginger

Here are some interesting facts on common spices we use today:

Spice	Part of the Plant	Cool Fact
Ginger	Roots	Ginger is a very medicinal root, proven to reduce nausea better than a placebo. In its fresh form, it's an herb and in its dry form, it's a spice.
Peppercorn	Berries	Peppercorns are so prized that they were once used as currency. Pepper is also the oldest recorded used spice; it was cultivated as early as 1,000 B.C. Peppercorns come in black, brown, pink, green, and white varieties.
Cinnamon	Tree Bark	The polyphenolics in cinnamon have been clinically proven to lower blood sugar. However, its effects aren't as potent when used in sugary desserts.

Spice	Part of the Plant	Cool Fact
Cardamom	Seed	In addition to being a very floral and aromatic spice, cardamom is used in many Southeast Asian countries as natural medicine to treat infections in the gums and throat, and for the congestion of the lungs as well as digestive disorders. It also is used to break up kidney stones and gall stones.
Saffron	Flower Stamen	It takes 75,000 flowers to make just one pound of saffron.  By weight, it is the most expensive spice in the world.
Vanilla	Seed pod	Vanilla is derived from the seed pod of the Vanilla Orchid. There are over 21,000 recognized species of orchids on earth and only 110 of those species are Vanilla Orchids. Even fewer of those are used for human consumption. Because of the time it takes to cultivate vanilla, it is the second most expensive spice in the world.