Herbs and Spices

In class we have been learning about a favorite topic of mine: herbs and spices.   Disclaimer:  If you think this is entirely dorky of me, then you may want to exit your browser window now... 

We learned that herbs are identified as the green, leafy parts of a particular plant while spices can come from every other part of a plant... the bark (cinnamon), fruit (peppercorns), seeds (nutmeg), stamens (saffron), flowers (cloves), roots (ginger), etc.

While they are obviously essential in any kitchen to lend flavor and personality to a dish (after all, without them, how could you differentiate between your favorite chili recipe and Grandma's spaghetti sauce?), herbs and spices also have had a profound impact on history -- seriously.

They may seem like everyday items these days, easily obtained in any local grocery store, but there was once a time when spices were rare commodities and, particularly in Europe during the Middle Ages, they were deemed more precious than gold.  A pound of black pepper could be exchanged for a month's rent (wish that were still the case today).

And, as we should all recall from our grade school history lessons (right?), the lure for spices are ultimately what led Christopher Columbus to "sail the ocean blue," as the Ottoman Empire was monopolizing the sole spice trade route at the time, and the Spanish were like "You expect us to pay how much for this nutmeg?", and then sought to find an alternate route of their own-- one that circumnavigated Africa to get to Asia (and we all know the ending to that story).

Similarly, herbs have been the stuff of myths and legends for centuries.  Take a look at Greek mythology if you don't believe me.  There's tons of drama there.  For example:

"Menthe" (aka "Mint") was a nymph who got caught sleeping around with Hades (why one would want to hang out with him, I have no idea).  His wife, Persephone, was jealous and transformed her into a shrub so she would forever be trampled by people walking by (she basically called her a tramp in her own creative way).  Hades felt bad and decided to give Menthe a lovely fragrance so he could cherish her whenever he passed by (creepy much?).  And so we have promiscuity to thank for this key ingredient in our modern day Mojitos... which, strangely enough, I'm sure has its own history of promiscuity, if you know what I mean...

By the way, I have some mint around the house right now (my friend made me this incredible tzatziki sauce last weekend that I had to replicate.  Let me know if you want the recipe).  So may this image forever serve as a reminder not to succumb to any adulterous whims:

Believe it or not, every herb and spice has its own unique history to tell.  In class we were each assigned one herb or spice to research, write about, and present in class.

But I will save my findings for a later post as I'm sure this is enough herb and spice talk for the day.

oo,