Monday, May 19, 2008

Classification of Spices

What actually falls into the catecory of spice? Are herbs spices? And how do seasonings fit in there?
I have just learnt that the German law does not distinguish between spices and herbs, they are in the same category.

Definition: Spices and herbs are parts of plant, that are, due to their natural ingredients, determined to be taste- and smell imparting ingredients for food.
Those can be flowers, fruits, buds, seeds, barks/peels, roots, bulbs or only parts of these, mostly dried.
Herbs are fresh or dried leaves, flowers, scions or parts of them.

Well, and then there are spice-mixtures, spice-salts, seasonings and lots more... that is so much! Reading about those spices I miss my kitchen... there are some Indian spices waiting for me, a friend brought them from India a couple of months ago, but I had to leave for Hungary... what a pity! Well, I keep waiting and hope they are good :)

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