Information provided by Herbies Spices

What are spices?


Spices are the buds, bark, roots, berries and aromatic seeds that are harvested for use in flavouring cooking. Herbs are the leaves of plants, so when we use coriander leaf we refer to it as a herb, however when we use coriander seed we say we are using a spice. Even the tiny filaments of saffron are referred to as a spice. Saffron is the stigma which is hand plucked from a small mauve crocus native to Kashmir.

Typical examples of spices are cloves (buds), cinnamon (bark), turmeric (root), peppercorns (berries), vanilla (the bean from a tropical orchid vine) and cumin, coriander, dill and fennel (seeds) to mention just a few.


Where do spices come from?


Most spices are grown in the tropical regions of the world, with some thriving in the cool misty highlands. Many of the seed spices come from more temperate areas, such as coriander seed, which is grown in Northern India, Africa and the wheat producing areas of South Australia and Western New South Wales.


How are spices harvested?


The majority of spices are still harvested in the way they have been for centuries, by hand! Most of the developments in the spice industry have been with respect to growing and post harvest treatment such as grading and cleaning.


What gives spices their flavour?


Through spices, nature provides an incredible variety of colours, textures, aromas and flavours that add interest and depth to our meals. The many and varied flavours in spices are held in the volatile oils that naturally occur in spices. Some of these flavours are apparent in the fresh spice, for example in ginger. Other spices either change or only develop their true flavour on drying. One dramatic example is vanilla, a green tasteless bean that grows on a tropical climbing orchid. It is only after drying and curing that the enzyme reactions which take place actually form the vanilla flavour. In a similar manner, when peppercorns are picked green, the enzyme reaction that occurs upon drying turns them black and creates the pepper flavour we all know so well.