I've used herbs and spices my entire life without ever stopping to think about what the difference is between them. I was excited to find a blog post on the subject at the Supreme Spice Blog. It's always fun to find the answer to a question you didn't know you had.
"The leaf of a plant which is used in cooking is referred to as a herb and any other part of the plant that is used to flavor food is termed as a spice."
The blog gives some examples of spices and what plant part they are from: "Cloves (bud), ginger & turmeric (roots), fennel, cumin, coriander (seeds), cinnamon (bark), peppercorns (berries)."
Be sure to check out the Supreme Spice Blog for more about spices. Supreme Spice also sells a line of spice extracts in some unique flavors. I just made an Indian cupcake using their tea masala extract. I had never even heard of tea masala extract until I saw their product.
5-22-2008 @12:08PM Jim said... You write for a food blog and didn't know the difference between spices and herbs?
(jaw hits the floor)
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5-22-2008 @12:25PM Rachel said... My guess, Jim, is that it was more that Stephanie didn't really ever give it any thought (I mean, really, who sits around thinking of the differences between herbs & spices at any great length?) than that she was suprised by or didn't know the difference.
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