Herbs and Spices of the World

Herbs and spices have been used by people for centuries for culinary, medicinal, and even religious purposes. In general, herbs are considered culinary flavorings that come from the vegetative part of the plant, most often leaves and roots. Herbs such as parsley, bay leaves, oregano, summer savory, thyme, sage, basil, and marjoram are leaves. Spices are most often seeds, seed pods, and fruit (usually dried). Black pepper, chili pepper, nutmeg, sesame, mace, mustard, vanilla, cacao, kola, celery seed, turmeric, and almond are seeds, seed pods, or fruit. Of course, there are exceptions—ginger is from a root, cinnamon is from the bark of a tree, and saffron is the actual stamens of crocus flowers.

Herbs and spices come from plants. Plants produce chemicals that provide a wide array of scents and flavors. In nature, these chemicals can repel or discourage pests from eating them. They can also encourage pollinators and other useful animals to eat them and disperse the seeds while repelling other animals. For example, scientists have discovered that mammals can experience the heat of spicy hot peppers while birds cannot. Pepper seeds traveling through the digestive systems of mammals are damaged or even digested by some mammals. When the remnants are spread in the animal’s waste, the seeds are no longer capable of germinating and producing new plants. However, pepper seeds digested by a bird pass through its system unharmed, are spread in the environment, and then germinate and produce new plants. So the bird is the preferred consumer of pepper fruits and mammals are not. The hot spice of the peppers dissuades mammals from consuming peppers, leaving them available for birds to eat.

Herbs and spices used in our foods represent rich cultures throughout the world. Seasonings help identify specific cuisine within various regions of the world. Italian seasonings from the Mediterranean are familiar to foods such as pizza, pasta, and breads. Cajun seasonings are familiar in the Southern United States, while Southwest seasonings are common in the hot, desert states of New Mexico and Arizona.

Many of our foods are produced both near and far, but herbs and spices could represent the richest geographic diversity of all of our foods. These flavor-enhancing foods have been imported and exported across the world since the Columbian Exchange. Refer to additional lessons on the Matrix to cover the Columbian Exchange in more depth.