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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. 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.

Allspice
A small tropical tree, belonging to the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. It is native to the West Indies and tropical Central America and the powdered, dried, unripe berries are used to flavour foods. An oil is extracted from the berries, and another from the leaves. These are used in toilet preparations, soap, and hair tonics, and bay oil is obtained from a closely related species. The fruit, when dried, is widely used as a spice. The name pimento is sometimes applied to the pimiento, a variety of sweet pepper, also used as a spice.

Black pepper
The dried black berries of the pepper, which are harvested while still green and unripe. Black pepper is widely used as a spice and a condiment, and may be used whole (peppercorns) or ground. The popular Polynesian beverage kava is produced from the roots of a shrub, which are mashed and fermented in water. The active ingredient is not alcohol, but an alkaloid.

Capers
A plant of the genus Capparis and a member of the Capparaceae, a family which includes over 700 species of herbaceous plants, trees, shrubs, and some lianas, distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics The capers that are used as a seasoning or condiment are the pickled, unopened buds of the caper bush, a spiny shrub native to dry, rocky areas in the Mediterranean. It is a small, spiny shrub with conspicuous white or lilac flowers, each with a large number of long stamens. the cooked and pickled flower buds of a bramble-like southern European shrub, used to flavour food.

Caraway seeds
The seeds of a plant of the parsley family, used for flavouring and as a source of oil. These seeds are used in cookery, confectionery, and medicine. The caraway plant is a biennial herb; it grows up to 61 cm 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.

Cardamom
A tropical, perennial shrub, native to Sri Lanka and India. It is a member of the ginger family, and has aromatic seeds that are highly flavoured and have been prized for chewing in those countries for centuries. It is best known as a spice, being a constituent of curry powder. The true cardamom has large leaves and white flowers with blue stripes and yellow borders; it grows to about 3 m (about 10 ft) in height. The fruit is a small capsule with 8 to 16 brown seeds; the seeds are used as a spice.

Cayenne pepper
A pungent hot-tasting red powder prepared from ground dried chilli peppers. Cayenne pepper is made from the dried, ground seeds and pods.

Chili
A small hot-tasting pod of a variety of capsicum, used chopped (and often dried) in sauces, relishes, and spice powders. There are various forms with pods of differing size, colour, and strength of flavour, such as cascabels and jalapeños.

Cinnamon
A spice obtained from the dried bark of a species of evergreen tree, belonging to the laurel family, it is native to Sri Lanka , and its exploitation was the incentive for the successive Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonizations of that country. It has been used since early times as a spice in many culinary preparations, and it is also used in some medicines. The aromatic qualities of cinnamon result from a volatile oil, oil of cinnamon that may be extracted from the bark by distillation. The oil varies in color from yellow to cherry red; the yellow is used in scenting soap and flavoring candy.

Cloves
The cloves are the unopened flower-buds, picked and dried in the Sun. They were used in China as long ago as 300 bc and were ordered to be used as breath-sweeteners by courtiers addressing the Emperor. Along with eucalyptus and allspice, they belong to the myrtle family. Cloves are used extensively as a condiment and flavoring in many types of cookery. Oil is obtained from cloves by repeated distilling. In dentistry this oil is used as an anesthetic and sometimes as an antiseptic. It is also used in perfumes and soaps.

Coriander
Coriander is also called Chinese parsley or Cilantro. It is widely used in Middle-Eastern and South American dishes, and is common in Asian cuisines, especially Thai. It is cultivated for its fruit, the dried seeds of which, also called coriander, are used as a spice in a wide variety of foods, and for its pungent leaves, called cilantro, a basic ingredient in Latin American and Asian cooking. Oil that is extracted from the seed is used in the preparation of liqueurs and is a medicine for abdominal discomfort. The finely chopped roots of coriander are used in curry pastes and the leaves and stems are wonderful in salads, soups and stir-fries. Fresh coriander also adds a delicious flavour to rice dishes, seafoods, scrambled eggs and tossed green salads.

Cumin
The aromatic seeds of a plant of the parsley family, used as a spice, especially ground and used in curry powder. The small slender plant which bears this fruit, occurring from the Mediterranean to central Asia. Cumin is cultivated for its seed like fruit, which resembles caraway seeds in taste. Cumin is used to flavor curries, soups, and meats.

Curcuma
A tropical Asian plant of a genus that includes turmeric, zedoary, and other species that yield spices, dyes, and medicinal products.

Fennel seeds
A perennial member of the carrot family, Umbelliferae, native to southern Europe but naturalized in other places, particularly near the coast. The common fennel is cultivated in both Europe and America . It resembles dill in its feathery appearance but has a taste similar to that of anise. The seeds are used as a spice and flavoring, while the swollen leaf-stems are treated as a vegetable.

Garam masala
A spice mixture used in Indian cookery.

Garlic
Cultivated on a large scale in southern and eastern Europe, it has been popular at least since ancient Egyptian times. Used excessively it makes the breath obnoxious, which perhaps explains why it was valued in the Middle Ages for its alleged ability to keep vampires at a distance. Garlic is used as a flavoring in cooking and pickling, sometimes in the form of whole or grated cloves and sometimes in the form of a cooked extract, as in sauces and dressings. In medicine, garlic is used as a digestive stimulant, diuretic, and antispasmodic.

Ginger
From swollen rhizomes, or roots, a spice is obtained, and appears on the market as the root, as powdered, dried ginger (particularly from West Africa, Jamaica, and India), or as preserved ginger (chiefly from China). The latter is produced when the young rhizomes are boiled with sugar before being packed in syrup. The aromatic, highly pungent spice is used in cooking throughout the world and is one of the more important constituents of curry powder. Ginger is a native of tropical Asia, although the family as a whole occurs throughout the tropics. The ginger family has some 1,300 species world-wide.

Ginseng
A plant tuber credited with various tonic and medicinal properties, especially in the Far East. Ginseng is the source of a stimulant and supposed aphrodisiac, which is extracted from the roots. It is native to China , although a closely related species, American ginseng, occurs in eastern North America and is sometimes substituted for the Chinese variety.

Grains of Paradise
The seeds of a West African plant of the ginger family, resembling those of cardamom and used as a spice and in herbal medicine.

Green pepper
The unripe fruit of a sweet pepper, which is mild in flavour and widely used in cookery.

Juniper berries
An evergreen tree or shrub of the conifer genus Juniperus, which comprises some 60 species of the northern temperate zone, extending to the tropics in the Kenya highlands. The common juniper, is the only tree species native to the northern temperate regions of both the Old and New Worlds. This and other species have needle-like leaves throughout life, while some other species of Juniperus have small ones pressed close to the stems, as in J. sabina, the savin of Eurasia. The cone is modified to form a fleshy mass surrounding the seeds and is eaten by birds. The `berries' of the common juniper are used in the production of gin, to which it has given its name. The timber of some species is valuable, that of the American red pencil cedar, being used in pencil manufacture.

Mace
The reddish fleshy outer covering of the nutmeg, dried as a spice.
Mustard
Any one of a number of European, yellow-flowered, annual plants that give their name to the mustard family, or Cruciferae, a large family with over 3,000 species. This includes many economically important species, such as cabbage and oilseed rape, and many ornamental garden species. White mustard, is grown as a salad plant, and is eaten as a seedling with cress (as `mustard and cress'). The seeds of white mustard, brown mustard, and black mustard, B. nigra, are ground to yield mustard flour. When mixed with water, or vinegar, this produces the condiment mustard.

Nutmeg
The large brown seed of the tree Myristica fragrans, 20 m (75 feet) or more in height, which is native to the Molucca Islands of Indonesia. It belongs to a family, Myristicaceae, of tropical rain-forest trees with 380 species spread throughout the tropics. The fleshy fruits resemble large apricots. After drying, the nutmeg is marketed either whole or in a powdered form and used as a flavouring. The trees are either male or female and in plantations about 10 per cent male plants must be planted to ensure pollination of the female flowers. The seed is surrounded by a red-coloured, fleshy network called the mace, which is also used as a flavouring.

Paprika
It’s a common name for the ripe fruit of a plant, for a spice prepared from the fruit, and for the plant itself. The spice is used in cooking for its mildly pungent flavor and for its red color. The chief types are Hungarian paprika, made from the pods only, and king's paprika, made from seeds, stalks, and pods.

Star anise
It’s a common name for an annual plant of the parsley family. Native to Egypt , it is also cultivated in Syria , Malta , Spain , and Germany . The seed of the plant, called aniseed, is used as a condiment, in the preparation of the liqueur anisette, and in medicine as a stimulant and to relieve flatulence. Aniseed has an aromatic, agreeable smell and a warm, sweetish taste. Both smell and taste are due to its oil, called oil of anise, which contains anethole. Anethole and its derivatives are used in perfumes and flavorings.

Turmeric
It’s a common name for an erect, perennial herb, of the ginger family, and for its dried rhizomes. It is native to parts of India . The pale-yellow flowers, borne in spikes, have a three-part calyx, a five-lobed corolla, a fertile stamen, two sterile stamens, and one pistil. The fruit is a capsule. The dried rhizomes are used as a yellow dye and as a food seasoning, especially in curry powders.

Vanilla
A substance used as flavouring extracted from the dried pods of a climbing orchid, Vanilla planifolia, native to tropical Central America . The flowers are thick, fleshy, and fragrant but dull in color. The fruit of the species from which the majority of commercial vanilla is extracted occurs as fleshy pods. The pods need careful drying: the characteristic odour is absent from the unfermented pod. It is now mainly produced in Madagascar, but Mexico and some other Central American countries are exporters.

White pepper
The husked ripe or unripe berries of the pepper, typically ground and used as a condiment. White pepper, a less pungent form, is produced if the fleshy red outer skin is removed before drying. The pungency is caused by various resins and a yellow alkaloid, piperine.