June 10th is National Herbs & Spices Day.
Herbs & Spices are to some extent the basis on which many nations were built. At one point and time believe it or not, Spices such as Black Pepper were far more valuable than Gold. Culinary use of the term “Herb” typically distinguishes between herbs, from the leafy green parts of a plant and spices from the other parts of the plant including seeds, berries, bark, roots, and fruit. Culinary Herbs are distinguished vegetables in that, like spices they are used in small amounts and provide Flavor rather than Substance to food.
Great Culinary Herbs such as lavender, thyme, basil, rosemary, bay laurel should to highlighted as some of the most flavor enhancing herbs that are commonly used.
Spices on the other hand are dried seeds, fruit, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents growth.
Many spices, like herbs, are used for their medicinal effects;
Many spices, like herbs, are used for their medicinal effects;
for example, tumeric is used as preservative, liquorice is used as a medicine, garlic as a vegetable and numerous other cases can be found around the world of just such uses.
