Spices and herbs are basically flavor builders. You have seen some of them in action in this role in making stocks. With rare exceptions they should never be added raw to a food at the moment of completion. Spices and herbs A closer look at spices and herbs will help you to understand and use them effectively. Spices are the dried roots, bark, and seeds of tropical plants.
Herbs are the leafy parts of plants.
In medieval Europe spices were among the most important ingredients in cookery. In a large household the grinding of spices was a full-time job performed by a person known as a powder beater. Pepper, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves were imported at great cost from the Far East and used to mask the taste of rancid or salty meats. In today's kitchen spices and herbs are usually flavor builders. A few can be flavorings, and a few can also play the part of a major flavor, as hot peppers do in Mexican cuisine and curry powders do in many oriental dishes.