[Sca-cooks] Herb? Spice? Other?

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Lavender is a standard component of herbes de Provence, so I suppose a  
case could be made for it as an herb, but then you've got things like  
cassia buds, which I'd definitely classify as a spice.

Adamantius

Sent from my iPod

On Feb 11, 2009, at 9:21 PM, lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:

>> 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.
>
> Antonia di Benedetto Calvo wrote:
>> Well, that looks like my classifications from Wikipedia, so I think  
>> it's
>> accurate :-)
>
> Probably is my paraphrase of your work. I've been updating the  
> Wikipedia culinary herb and spice page. I got rid of most of the  
> purely medicinal items and added in botanical names. And i have some  
> quibbles with some sources that include nuts and pickled capers as  
> spices...
>
>> I'd be OK with adding flowers to the list, if I knew of any flowers  
>> used
>> specifically as culinary spices.
>
> Well, lavender is frequently used as a seasoning in savory dishes in  
> the so-called anonymous Andalusian cookbook. And roses show up a lot  
> in medieval recipes all over the place. Both are used like spices,  
> but i'm not quite sure if they should be so classified.
>
>> I agree that musk and ambergris are *not* spices.
> --
> Urtatim (that's urr-tah-TEEM)
> the persona formerly known as Anahita
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