Spices or herbs?

[Jaime L. Williams]

Hello all, I need your help! I am in my expedition for my next blog on cooking and I  was collecting information about few spices and herbs.  On my search I found most people prefer for spices like pepper, garlic and cinnamon. As a part of this, I met one of my friend who works in a spice mill service ( Horton spices in Markham ) who said that, most of their customers request for dried spices rather than herbs. Is that so? I would love it if you share your views on this topic.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I'd say garlic is a vegetable, myself.

[CatPoet]

Herbs  most often loses thier flavour when dried, there are some that works well dried like thyme and oregano  but dill and parsley does not.  So I rather use fresh or frozen herb and dried spices  and the biggest herb of them all, well the banana I eat fresh.

[Lisa Shock]

Yeah, garlic doesn't fall into either the herb or spice category. And, yeah, for the most part fresh herbs are the way to go, with, for me, the exception of dry oregano, if I am using herbs. Depends on the dish whether I use herbs and/or spices. (usually a combination not an either/or scenario)

 

I am not one to put black pepper in everything, I only use it very occasionally.

 

That all said, I think that your herb vs spice battle is an artificial contrivance.

Edited October 20, 2014 by Lisa Shock (log)

[huiray]

Herb definition.

Spice definition.

 

Parsley is a herb.  Cinnamon is a spice.

 

As a more involved example, the dried rhizomes of angular Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum odoratum), called 玉竹 in Chinese cuisine and medicine, is considered a herb.  I use it in things like herbal Bak Kut Teh and other soups, for example, where I would call it a herbal soup or soup with herbal ingredients.

 

I might venture that most spices (but not all) in common usage would be dried.  Most herbs (but not all^¶) in common usage are best when fresh.  (Exceptions abound, I imagine, as I mentioned below also)

 

And so on.  :-)

 

^¶ See the Polygonatum odoratum example above.  Most Chinese herbs of this sort (medicinal herbs) would also be dried in the commonly-available and commonly-used forms.  Herbs whose leafy-parts are used I suppose are frequently better fresh.  Herbs whose other parts like rhizomes, roots, are used are frequently dried.  Exceptions abound, I expect, which also depend on the circumstances.  The roots (as distinct from the leaves) of coriander (a herb), a vital ingredient in Thai cuisine (for example), is best used fresh - freezing them is OK but dried coriander roots I have not heard of.  The leaf of Laurus nobilis is commonly thought of as a culinary herb but the plant would also fit the botanical definition of a spice; and some folks insist on using only the fresh leaves while others prefer the dried leaves, while for practical reasons the dried leaves may be the only option available to large swaths of the populace. :-)

[Deryn]

 

The roots (as distinct from the leaves) of coriander (a herb), a vital ingredient in Thai cuisine (for example), is best used fresh - freezing them is OK but dried coriander roots I have not heard of. 

 

Huiray - Hope this is not too off topic. I have not heard of or seen dried coriander roots either, but, I am now wondering if this part of the coriander plant is not also a decent candidate for freeze-drying. The leaves freeze dry reasonably well. Unless someone else takes the bait and conducts this experiment, I will see what I can do once I am back up north with my FD'er all set up (IF I can find some cilantro with the roots still on locally that is). I had some on my deck this summer but I left them to wither when I came down south so don't expect them to be decent to try with this year.