In many respects, the culinary and medicinal histories of mankind were defined, shaped and altered by herbs and spices. By 2 000 BC a vibrant spice trade developed throughout South Asia and the Middle East.
Cinnamon and black pepper were the spice commodities forming the back bone of the earliest spice trade routes. By 1 000 BC, medical systems based upon herbs could be found in China, Korea and India.
Spices are seeds, roots, barks and fruits that are used to flavour, colour and preserve food. Herbs, on the other hand, are leaves, flowers and stems that are used for flavouring and garnishing food.
It is estimated that there are more than 350 different culinary spices in use all over the world today. Spices can be classified according to their botanical bases of which there are at least seven:
• Dried fruits or seeds, such as fennel, mustard, nutmeg, and black pepper
• Arils, such as mace (part of the nutmeg plant)
• Barks, such as cinnamon and cassia
• Dried flower buds, such as cloves
• Stigmas, such as saffron
• Roots and rhizomes, such as turmeric and ginger
• Resins, such as asafoetida
There are many more spice combinations or spice mixes than there are nations. Some of the better-known mixes are:
• Berbere – Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia
• Chaat masala – India and Pakistan
• Curry powder – Nearly everywhere
• Speculaas – Netherlands
• Five-spice powder – China
• Garam masala – South Asia
• Harissa – North Africa
• Jerk spice – Jamaica
• Ras-el-hanout – North Africa
With spices, one nation’s sweet is another’s savoury. Cinnamon, for example, is just at home in a pastry dish such as American pumpkin pie as it is in a Moroccan lamb tagine.
I have always associated spices with seasons; most specifically winter. Nutmeg, roasted coriander, cloves and black pepper are combined with vinegar to announce the start of the hunting season.
Cinnamon means milk tart and pancakes, both of which are frequently employed in our house to combat the winter blues, and as a result I cannot imagine ever living without cinnamon.
There is an art to the mixing of spices.
The effects of the spices on our bodies do guide some in their combinations. Garam masala is a blend of warming spices (in fact, garam means heating the body) such as cinnamon, cumin, coriander, pepper, mace, cardamom and sometimes fennel seeds.
History suggests we should not take access to spices lightly. Wars were fought and continents and civilisations were colonised in the quest for access to and control over spices.
Do you have a favourite spice blend?
As it is the beginnings of winter and seeing that the hunting season has arrived, I am deeply embedded in the quest to re-invent some of my spice-based memories.
