Herbs and spices are wonderful. They can be used to flavor up so many types of food, from pasta to meat, to fish and almost anything else. Below is a list of some common herbs and what they can bring to the taste of food:
Basil: These are leaves. Fresh basil leaves have a wonderful aroma and can be sweet (in the case of Italian basil). There is also Thai basil, and other types of basil from the South East Asian areas of the world, each with a unique flavor.
Bay leaves: Fresh bay leaves and dried ones are used in cooking. Fresh bay leaves are mild in flavor while the dried ones have stronger flavors.
Capers: In Italian cuisine, caper buds are used, whereas in Greece, the leaves of the plant are used as well.
Cayenne Pepper: Used mostly in powdered form, this is spicy and can be used sparingly to create spicy flavors.
Chili Pepper: Can be considered a vegetable (bell pepper) or a spice, depending on the fleshiness and flavor intensity. The leaves are used as greens for cooking in some Thai and Japanese dishes.
Chipotle: A smoke-dried jalapeño which browns and shrivels, used in Mexican and Tex-Mex cooking.
Chives: The smallest species of the onion family, it lends an onion-like flavor and is used for that purpose.
Cinnamon: The tree’s bark is used as a spice, as a condiment and flavoring spice. It is commonly used in desserts, some Middle Eastern chicken and fish dishes, and to flavor many American snacks.
Clove: Strong, it is used powdered or in its whole form, especially in Indian cuisine, and Mexican as well.
Coriander (Cilantro): The leaves of this plant is known as coriander leaves, cilantro or Chinese parsley. The leaves are a common ingredient in chutneys and as garnish to finish some dishes. The coriander seed is a spice used a lot in Indian dishes for curries and garam masala, along with cumin as a thickener. The roots have a much stronger flavor and are used in Thai dishes, in soups and pastes.
Cumin: The second most popular spice in the world after black pepper, it is used as a spice for it’s aroma in Sri Lankan, Indian, Middle Eastern, North African, Northern Mexican and Western Chinese cuisines. It is also in some Dutch cheeses and breads from France. It is also used in chili powder, garam masala, curry powder and some other spice blends.
Fennel: Dried fennel seeds are an aromatic, anise flavored spice, and are either brown or green colored. The green seeds are used for culinary purposes. The seed is used in Middle Eastern and Indian cuisines. The bulb is a crispy, hardy root vegetable that can be cooked in a number of ways or eaten raw.
Garlic: It has a pungent flavor, and is used all over the world, in Southern European, Middle Eastern, Northern African, parts of Asia and South and Central America. It is often used with tomatoes, ginger or onion. The skin is usually removed by either peeling or first roasting them with olive oil to make them soft. It usually cooks extremely fast and can burn easily if not careful, making it bitter and bad tasting.
Ginger: Young ginger rhizomes are pickled in vinegar or sherry for a snack, used in teas and even as a sweet. They are juicy and fleshy. Mature roots are fibrous and almost dry. Juice from old roots are used a spice in Indian cuisine, and ginger is also a quintessential ingredient of Chinese, Japanese and other cuisines of Asia.
Lemongrass: Native to India, lemongrass is used as a herb in Asian cuisine, lending a citrus flavor.
Mint: The leaf is the culinary source of mint. Fresh mint is preferred and has a fresh, aromatic, sweet taste with a cool aftertaste. It is used in syrups, candies, ice creams, teas, and more. It is also used in sauces.
Nutmeg: It has a sweet flavor and is used ground or grated to flavor many dishes.
Oregano: Combined with basil, this gives a distinctive flavor to Italian cuisine, as it is used in tomato sauce, vegetables and meat. The dried herb is usually used more than the fresh. It works with a lot of hot and spicy foods.
Parsley: Used as garnish to finish many dishes, it can also be used to flavor potato and rice dishes, meat and vegetable stews, fish, meat, steak, goose, chicken or lamb.
Saffron: This is used extensively in European, North African and Asian cuisines. It has an aroma like honey. It is used as a condiment for rice dishes in India, Iran, Pakistan, Spain, etc. and in baked goods, cheeses, curries, liquors. It is essential for bouillabaise, a seafood stew from Marseilles (France), and in a risotto calledalla milanese (Italy). It is used Iranian dishes, biryanis, and in Moroccan food. Because of it’s high cost, it is usually substituted with turmeric or safflower. Saffron users usually crumble and pre-soak their threads for a few minutes before cooking.
Sage: With a slight peppery flavor, it is usually used to flavor fatty meats.
Sesame: Sesame seeds are usually used to top off baked foods like bagels and hamburger buns. They are also sprinkled onto sushi style foods. Sesame is used extensively in India in dishes like Singju, a type of salad, and very commonly is found in a sweet ball like snack called Ell urundai or Yellunde. It is ground into a paste to make tahini. Sesame oil prevailed in India before the advent of peanut oil.
Tarragon: One of the four fines herbes of French cooking, it is suitable for chicken, lasagna, fish and egg dishes. It is also a component of the Béarnaise sauce. Fresh sprigs can also be put in vinegar to impart their flavor.
Thyme: It is a good source of iron and is widely used in cooking. It is used to flavor meats, soups and stews. While powerful, it usually doesn’t overwhelm with flavor, making it good to blend with other herbs and spices.
Turmeric: Mostly produced from Erode, a city in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, it comes from the ginger family. It is also known as “Indian saffron,” a term that was popular in Medieval Europe, because of it being used to substitute the much more expensive saffron. It is a key ingredient in Indian, Persian, Thai and Malaysian food in curries, masak lemak, rendang and many more. The powder is used for cooking while the leaves can be used to wrap and serve food. In non South-Asian food, it is usually used to give a yellow color to food.
Vanilla: Used as a pod, powder or extract (in a glycerol or alcoholic solution), it is very commonly used to flavor vanilla ice cream. When the pod is split and the surface is exposed in cooking, the flavor is stronger and the seeds get in the food as well.
Za’atar: This is a common name for a group of herbs used in Middle Eastern cooking- Oregano, Basil thyme, Thyme, and Savory. It is also the name of a condiment made from the dried herbs mixed with sesame seeds, salt and other spices for use in Arab cuisine.