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.