SC - spices vs. herbs?

[Anne-Marie Rousseau]

Hi all from Anne-Marie

re: spice vs herb

The strict definition is that if its from a leaf, its an herb, and if its
from bark, seeds, flowers, or a non-plant material etc its a spice. 

According to my reading, in the middle ages, herbs did indeed encompass
things like swiss chard and spinach (this according to the lists of "herbs"
we are giving in things lke Charlemagnes _de Villis_ and other period
gardening lists). And this list isnt limeted to culinary herbs, either.

Hope this helps...
- --AM, who's 20th century mom says "if its cheap its an herb, if its
expensive and imported, its a spice" :)

- ----------
> From: LrdRas <LrdRas at aol.com>
> To: sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG
> Subject: Re: SC - spices vs. herbs?
> Date: Monday, March 23, 1998 5:03 AM
> 
> In a message dated 3/23/98 1:31:30 AM Eastern Standard Time,
stefan at texas.net
> writes:
> 
> << sorting them by spices being dried and herbs being
>  fresh, but I’m not sure that that is the dividing line between 
>  spices and herbs. Is there a good one?
>  
>  Thanks.
>    Stefan li Rous
>    stefan at texas.net >>
> 
> 
> IMO, the line between herbs and spices is somewhat blurred. The rule of
thumb
> I use is if an item is being referred to as an ingredient which provides
> arromatic, flavor or medicinal properties and qualities to a dish then it
is
> an herb or spice whether fresh or dried..
> 
> In the arena of cookery herbs used as the main ingredient in a dish are
almost
> always referred to as "greens" or "leafy vegetables". Perhaps there is no
easy
> way to define them. Hearing the word "spinach" or "Swiss Chard", for
instance,
> never creates a mental image of "herb" in my mind but the word "oregano"
> automatically does so.
> 
> Most cookery books use the term herb to refer to leafy aromatics wheresas
> seeds, bark and roots are almost always referred to as spices. Sorry to
addto
> the confusion. :-)
> 
> Ras
> 
> 
>
============================================================================

> 
> To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
> Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".
> 
>
============================================================================


============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================