Your Indoor Herb Garden by DJ Herda

Author:DJ Herda
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New Society Publishers

Egypt’s Queen Nefertiti was a proponent of eyeliner thousands of years ago, as evidenced by this royal bust.

But what exactly is the difference? It’s one that’s not so distinguishable after all, as it turns out. Both herbs and spices come from plants, and both are used either fresh or dried to enhance the flavor of foods. The difference between the two—technically, at least—is the location on the plant from where they are obtained.

Herbs come from the leafy, green part of the plant. Spices come from elsewhere on the plant: the root, bulb, stem, bark, or seeds. Examples of herbs are basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley, cilantro, and mint. In addition to their flavoring enhancement, they may also have medicinal value and may be used in the production of cosmetics.

Examples of spices are cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and pepper. They, too, enhance the flavor of foods. They have also been used as food preservatives, and some—such as turmeric with its anti-inflammatory and antifungal properties—have medicinal value.

Despite what seems to be a reasonable explanation, the American Spice Trade Association begs to differ. They define spices as “any dried plant product used primarily for seasoning purposes,”50 which would tend to broaden the definition to include herbs, dehydrated vegetables, spice blends, spice seeds, and possibly even tree barks, tannins, and other botanical byproducts.

For our purposes, we’re going to consider herbs to be any plant or part of a plant that can be used as a culinary additive or as a medicinal. Here’s a chart that gives a little broader look at how comparable herbs and spices are—and how invaluable to humanity from a therapeutic point of view they can be!

Here we see at a glance the similar uses and importance of both herbs and spices. Now, let’s take a look at just how broad their applications in society are.

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