Spices

[fabrisse]

We've talked a little bit about pot herbs, and, at a future point, I'll go into more detail about regular herbs.

Today, though, I want to talk a bit about spices. So, of course, I'll start by defining herbs.

Simply put, herbs are vegtables. They are green and leafy aromatics and tend to grow above ground. Pot herbs are also vegetables, but they often grow below ground (carrots, most of the allium family except chives...).

Spices are everything else -- bark (cinnamon), resins, flowers (clove), stigma (saffron), and, most of all, seeds (fennel) and seed pods (hot peppers). Sometimes they are treated. A chipotle is a jalapeno that's been smoked. Sometimes they are the same plant, look at mace and nutmeg. The one thing they have in common is that they are exotic, and, compared to herbs, that exoticism makes them expensive.

I currently have Spice: The History of a Temptation in my reading rotation. Mr. Turner is very heavy on emphasizing how exotic.

Some of this is brought on by discovering, and buying, three grinders at Whole Foods today. Grains of Paradise, Cubebs, and Long Pepper were all available. When I first started in the SCA ten years ago, I'd never heard of any of them. Neither had most of my non-SCA friends. Alton Brown mentioned Grains of Paradise on one of his Good Eats episodes last season.

My favorite of the three is long pepper. I use it in my apple pie filling to help warm and blend the other spices. I use it when someone says they don't like hot food, but I want a little pepper (piper nigrum) flavor. It's an amazingly useful spice.

Grains of Paradise never really went out in Chinese cookery. It also has a peppery flavor, but I find it's a spice that I don't notice when it's there. If I leave it out, I notice its absence. And for all it's heat, what I miss is a vinegary, sour taste. This might sound as if I don't like it, but I do. I occasionally roast a duck and the spice mix that I rub it with varies. However the mix is always incomplete without Pink Peppercorns (not a true pepper in either the chili or the piper nigrum sense) and grains of paradise. If I'm lacking either of them, I'll fix something else.

I love little bits of spice lore that I've picked up from various sources. Cinnamon is considered an aphrodisiac for both sexes, but nutmeg only works for men and cardamom for women -- that is, if you believe in aphrodisiacs and their like.

If anyone is interested, at some point I'll talk about herbs and spices that reinforce each other.

Comments

[snopes-faith.livejournal.com]

I love little bits of spice lore that I've picked up from various sources. Cinnamon is considered an aphrodisiac for both sexes, but nutmeg only works for men and cardamom for women -- that is, if you believe in aphrodisiacs and their like.
That's interesting. I loathe Cardomom - it tastes like perfume to my tastebuds. Very difficult to use as a flavour enhancer without it overwhelming all the other flavours, I think. Or it might be that my extreme dislike of it just makes it seem that way to me? I wonder why nutmeg only supposedly works on guys? how fascinating!
BTW, I would be interested in herbs & spices that reinforce each other, very much indeed.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

One does have to be careful with Cardamom. You're right that it can overwhelm very quickly. For me, though it's a warm and sensual scent that, used sparingly, enhances everything.

Cilantro and Marjoram (both herbs, I know) taste like soap. I can't tolerate them in even small doses, so I can imagine what a "perfumey" taste would be like for you.

Just curiosity, but do you find cinnamon or nutmeg unpleasant?

Reinforcement will go on my topics list.

[snopes-faith.livejournal.com]

I utterly, utterly adore both cinnamon and nutmeg! One of the nice tiny things about visiting the USA is dicovering my love of cinnamon is apparently shared!

[(Anonymous)]

As I understand it, if cilantro tastes soapy to you, you are allergic to it.

Ki-lin

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

Really? Because coriander seed doesn't bother me at all.

Thank you.

[riverfox.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this post, hun! :) I love my pepper medley in my grinder and I love this pepper mix a lot better than plain old black. The medley consists of reddish pink peppercorn but given what you said, I guess it's not really a pepper. ;) What is it actually?

As for the reinforcing spices/herbs, yes, I'm interested. :)

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

Pink peppercorn is a new world food which got its name because the berries looked like pepper. The wikipedia article is here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peruvian_pepper). I use them with cubeb, grains of paradise, and mace to make a rub for my roast duck.

[riverfox.livejournal.com]

Cool. Thanks for the link. :) It's sad but it took me till I was in my thirties to find out there were other kinds of pepper besides that common black. My family was never really big on variety cooking and what my mom made was usually the result of being poor. My grandpa was the real cook but he died when I was 12 so I never got to learn much from him except a few homeworld basic recipes that weren't all that improved upon after the depression.