World of Spice
WHAT IS A SPICE?
Spices are plant parts that are more densely loaded with flavor than most other ingredients used in cooking. Whereas herbs always come from leafy parts, spices tend to derive from seeds, fruits, roots, stems, flowers, or bark, and are usually dried. That said, some strongly flavored leaves, such as bay and curry leaf, can be considered spices because they are used more as a potent background flavoring than as a fresh addition.
Spice flavors are chemicals produced by plants, often for defense.
Chemical stores
Spices have been valued throughout history, in religious ceremonies and medicine as much as in cooking. Science has shown us that these once-mystical plant parts are in fact the vessels of chemicals known as flavor (or aroma) compounds, generated to help plants survive and reproduce, performing roles such as repelling animals or protecting against bacteria. By happy coincidence, many of these compounds have aromas that are pleasant to humans.
SPICES AND THEIR FLAVOR COMPOUNDS
Flavor compounds are the tiny molecules that give each spice its unique flavor. When in the mouth, these molecules waft up the throat as a vapor into the nose, where they are experienced as if coming from the tongue. For the cook, learning about these flavor compounds is more than mere nerdy curiosity: it is the key to releasing true creativity in the use of spices in cooking.
