Spice

In theculinary arts, aspiceis anyseed,fruit,root,bark, or otherplantsubstance in a form primarily used forflavoringorcoloringfood. Spices are distinguished fromherbs, which  are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used forflavoringor as agarnish. Spices andseasoningdo not mean the same thing, but spices fall under the seasoning category with herbs. 
Spices are sometimes used inmedicine,religious rituals,cosmetics, orperfumeproduction. They are usually classified into spices, spice seeds, and herbal categories.For example,vanillais commonly used as an ingredient infragrancemanufacturing.Plant-basedsweetenerssuch assugarare not considered spices.
Spices can be used in various forms, including fresh, whole, dried, grated, chopped, crushed, ground, or extracted into a tincture. These processes may occur before the spice is sold, during meal preparation in the kitchen, or even at the table when serving a dish, such as grinding peppercorns as a condiment. Certain spices, like turmeric, are rarely available fresh or whole and are typically purchased in ground form. Small seeds, such as fennel and mustard, can be used either in their whole form or as a powder, depending on the culinary need.
A whole dried spice has the longest shelf life, so it can be purchased and stored in larger amounts, making it cheaper on a per-serving basis. A fresh spice, such asginger, is usually more flavorful than its dried form, but fresh spices are more expensive and have a much shorter shelf life.
There is not enoughclinical evidenceto indicate that consuming spices affects human health.
Indiacontributes to 75% of global spice production.This is reflected culturally through itscuisine. Historically, thespice tradedeveloped throughout theIndian subcontinentas well as inEast Asiaand theMiddle East. Europe's demand for spices was among the economic and cultural factors that encouraged exploration in theearly modern period.
The wordspiceoriginated inMiddle English,from theOld Frenchwordsespece,espis(c)e,andespis(c)e.According to theMiddle English Dictionary, the Old French words came fromAnglo-Frenchspece;according toMerriam Webster, the Old-French words came from Anglo-Frenchespece,andespis.Both publications agree that the Anglo-French words are derived fromLatinspecies.Middle Englishspicehad its first known use as a noun in the 13th century.
Thespice tradedeveloped throughout theIndian subcontinentandMiddle Eastby 2000 BCE withcinnamonandblack pepper, and inEast Asiawith herbs and pepper. The Egyptians used herbs forcuisineandmummification. Their demand for exotic spices and herbs helped stimulate world trade.
Cloveswere used inMesopotamiaby 1700 BCE.The earliest written records of spices come from ancient Egyptian, Chinese, and Indian cultures. TheEbers Papyrusfrom early Egypt dating from 1550 BCE describes some eight hundred differentherbal medicinalremedies and numerous medicinal procedures.
By 1000 BCE, medical systems based upon herbs could be found inChina,Korea, andIndia.Early uses were associated with magic, medicine, religion, tradition, and preservation.
Indonesian merchants traveled around China, India, the Middle East, and the east coast of Africa.Arabmerchants facilitated the routes through the Middle East and India. This resulted in the Egyptianport city of Alexandriabeing the main trading center for spices. The most important discovery prior to the European spice trade was themonsoonwinds (40 CE). Sailing from Eastern spice cultivators to Western European consumers gradually replaced the land-locked spice routes once facilitated by the Middle East Arab caravans.
Spices were prominent enough in the ancient world that they are mentioned in theOld Testament. InGenesis,Josephwas sold into slavery by his brothers to spice merchants. InExodus,mannais described as being similar to coriander in appearance. In theSong of Solomon, the male narrator compares his beloved to many saffron, cinnamon, and other spices.
The ancient IndianepicRamayanamentions cloves.
Historians believe thatnutmeg, which originates from theBanda IslandsinSoutheast Asia, was introduced to Europe in the 6th century BCE.TheRomanshad cloves in the 1st century CE, asPliny the Elderwrote about them.
Spices were among the most demanded and expensive products available in Europe in theMiddle Ages,the most common beingblack pepper,cinnamon(and the cheaper alternativecassia),cumin,nutmeg, ginger, andcloves. Given medieval medicine's main theory ofhumorism, spices and herbs were indispensable to balance "humors" in food,on a daily basis for good health at a time of recurrentpandemics. In addition to being desired by those usingmedieval medicine, the European elite also craved spices in the Middle Ages, believing spices to be from and a connection to "paradise".An example of the European aristocracy's demand for spice comes from theKing of Aragon, who invested substantial resources into importing spices toSpainin the 12th century. He was specifically looking for spices to put inwineand was not alone amongEuropean monarchsat the time to have such a desire for spice.
Spices were all imported from plantations in Asia and Africa, which made them expensive. From the 8th until the 15th century, theRepublic of Veniceheld a monopoly on spice trade with the Middle East, using this position to dominate the neighboring Italianmaritime republicsand city-states. The trade made the region rich. It has been estimated that around 1,000 tons of pepper and 1,000 tons of other common spices were imported into Western Europe each year during theLate Middle Ages. The value of these goods was the equivalent of a yearly supply of grain for 1.5 million people.The most exclusive wassaffron, used as much for its vivid yellow-red color as for its flavor. Spices that have now fallen into obscurity in European cuisine includegrains of paradise, a relative ofcardamomwhich mostly replaced pepper in late medieval north French cooking,long pepper,mace,spikenard,galangal, andcubeb.
Voyagers fromSpainandPortugalwere interested in seeking new routes to trade in spices and other valuable products from Asia. The control of trade routes and the spice-producing regions were the main reasons thatPortuguesenavigatorVasco da Gamasailed toIndiain 1499.When da Gama discovered the pepper market in India, he was able to secure peppers for a much lower cost than demanded byVenice.At around the same time,Christopher Columbusreturned from theNew World. He described toinvestorsthe new spices available there.
Another source of competition in the spice trade during the 15th and 16th centuries was theRagusansfrom the maritime republic ofDubrovnikin southern Croatia.The military prowess ofAfonso de Albuquerque(1453–1515) allowed the Portuguese to take control of the sea routes to India. In 1506, he took the island ofSocotrain the mouth of theRed Seaand, in 1507,Ormuzin thePersian Gulf. Since becoming theviceroyof theIndies, he tookGoain India in 1510, andMalaccaon theMalay Peninsulain 1511. The Portuguese could now trade directly withSiam,China, and theMaluku Islands.
With the discovery of the New World came new spices, includingallspice,chili peppers,vanilla, andchocolate. This development kept the spice trade, with the Americas as a latecomer with their new seasonings, profitable well into the 19th century.
Spices are primarily used as foodflavoringor to create variety.They are also used to perfumecosmeticsandincense. At various periods, many spices were used inherbal medicine. Finally, since they can be expensive, rare and exotic commodities, theirconspicuous consumptionhas often been a symbol of wealth and social class.
It is often claimed that spices were used either asfood preservativesor to mask the taste ofspoiled meat, especially in the EuropeanMiddle Ages.This is false.In fact, spices are rather ineffective as preservatives as compared tosalting,smoking,pickling, ordrying, and are ineffective in covering the taste of spoiled meat.Moreover, spices have always been comparatively expensive: in 15th century Oxford, a whole pig cost about the same as a pound of the cheapest spice, pepper.There is also no evidence of such use from contemporary cookbooks: "Old cookbooks make it clear that spices weren't used as a preservative. They typically suggest adding spices toward the end of the cooking process, where they could have no preservative effect whatsoever."Indeed,Cristoforo di Messisbugosuggested in the 16th century that pepper may speed up spoilage.
Though some spices haveantimicrobialproperties in vitro,pepper—by far the most common spice—is relatively ineffective, and in any case, salt, which is far cheaper, is also far more effective.
Amortar and pestleis the classic set of tools for grinding a whole spice. Less labor-intensive tools are more common now: amicroplaneor finegratercan be used to grind small amounts; acoffee grinderis useful for larger amounts. A frequently used spice such as black pepper may merit storage in its own hand grinder ormill.
The flavor of a spice is derived in part from compounds (volatile oils) thatoxidizeor evaporate when exposed to air. Grinding a spice greatly increases its surface area and so increases the rates of oxidation and evaporation. Thus, the flavor is maximized by storing a spice whole and grinding when needed. The shelf life of a whole dry spice is roughly two years; of a ground spice roughly six months.The "flavor life" of a ground spice can be much shorter.Ground spices are better stored away from light.
Some flavor elements in spices are soluble in water; many are soluble in oil or fat. As a general rule, the flavors from a spice take time to infuse into the food so spices are added early in preparation. This contrasts toherbswhich are usually added late in preparation.
A study by theFood and Drug Administrationof shipments of spices to the United States during fiscal years 2007–2009 showed about 7% of the shipments were contaminated bySalmonellabacteria, some of it antibiotic-resistant.As most spices are cooked before being served salmonella contamination often has no effect, but some spices, particularly pepper, are often eaten raw and are present at the table for convenient use. Shipments from Mexico and India, a major producer, were the most frequently contaminated.Food irradiationis said to minimize this risk.
TheInternational Organization for Standardizationaddresses spices andcondiments, along with related food additives, as part of theInternational Classification for Standards67.220 series.