[Sca-cooks] Herb? Spice? Other?

[Antonia Calvo]

lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:
> Herbs are pretty much just leaves, fresh or dried. That's simple.
>
> The category of spices, on the other hand, is much more complex and includes:
> -- seeds, and, actually, some dried fruits, such as fennel, mustard, and black pepper;
> -- roots and rhizomes, such as turmeric, ginger, and galangal;
> -- barks, such as cinnamon and cassia;
> -- dried buds, such as cloves;
> -- arils, such as mace;
> -- stamens, such as saffron;
> -- resins, such as asafoetida and mastic.
>
> I'm trying to decide if dried flowers are spices or not. I tend to list items such as roses, lavender, and safflower separately from spices.
>
> Same goes for animal products, such as musk and ambergris, that were used in foods. I tend to list them separately from spices, too.
>   


Well, that looks like my classifications from Wikipedia, so I think it's 
accurate :-)

I'd be OK with adding flowers to the list, if I knew of any flowers used 
specifically as culinary spices.  I agree that musk and ambergris are 
*not* spices.

-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo 

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Habeo metrum - musicamque,
hominem meam. Expectat alium quid?
-Georgeus Gershwinus
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