India may be one of the places with the most visible use and love of spices. It is, after all, the source of spices those adventurers braved so much to reach. The cuisine rests on its colors and smells with a collection of tastes I would wish to learn more about. The Web India site describes cardamom as "the queen of spices". They describe this "high-priced" spice as cardamom and it is grown in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. It is the dried fruit of a herbaceous perennial plant. Warm humid climate, loamy soil rich in organic matter, distributed rainfall, and special cultivation and processing methods all combine to make Indian cardamom truly unique in aroma, flavor, and size and it has parrot green colour. It has well established culinary values, and it is used in a wide range of sweets and confectionery. It is an important ingredient of garam masala, a combination spice for many vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Cardamom acts as a mouth-freshener after meals. Tea and coffee made with cardamom are pleasantly aromatic and refreshing.
Besides all these medicinal, aphrodisiac, and flavorful points for spiciness in your life, the The Hospitality Institute in St. Paul, Minnesota is working on the anti-microbial facets of spices. Some spices have always been known for their help in preserving foods. Recent work has shown that gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria are slowed with the addition of "... garlic, onion, cinnamon, cloves, thyme, sage, and others..." These spices are being found to inhibit the growth of microbes: cinnamon, cloves, mustard, allspice, bay leaf, caraway, coriander, cumin, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, and, to a lesser extent, black pepper, red pepper, and ginger.
The subject fascinated me as I began to read about what I have tasted and/or smelled. There is so much more to go. Here in Mexico there are the cacti, which are not spices but interest me with their taste and medicinal qualities (as well as their use in making tequila and mezcal) and those indigenous plants and herbs from the Yucatecan jungle nearby that my velador (guard/assistant/bodyguard) is showing me as we explore the edges of the receding jungle. Hoja Santa, the holy leaf, grows easily in my yard and the jungle nearby and has a strong, unique taste. I use it steamed above a soup or sauce or wrapped around a fish under a banana leaf. Chaya grows for everyone here and a green leaf blends wonderfully with eggs and chiles — my favorite breakfast. The only problem are its tiny, hidden thorns, and little insects that bite. Picking the leaves is easy, but they bite back.
Article comments
1 - Christopher Rose
Chiles, Cinnamon, Coriander, Garlic and Ginger - these are a few of my favourite things!
2 - Nancy
Garlic...cumin...coriander...cinnamon...cardamom. Mmmmmm. And vanilla - does vanilla count?
3 - Lisa McKay
Howard, I wish this article could be presented in aroma-vision. It is indeed remarkable that something so filled with sensual delight could also be good for us!
Nancy, I would most certainly count vanilla if it were used in bean form -- what a heavenly scent!
4 - Nancy
I've got a vanilla bean tucked in my clothes drawers instead of a perfume sachet. You know, I always have guys telling me how good I smell. LOL - I once put a dab of vanilla mixed w/cinnamon behind each ear & practically had marriage proposals all day! It was a joke, but everyone loved it.
Cinnamon....ummmm...how I could wax poetic over cinnamon. Or cassia, its cheap cousin. Either one is heavenly, and especially if you've just ground it fresh from sticks. Ditto cardamom. That's another man-trap spice.
Maybe I'll just have myself cremated on a pile of cinnamon like the phoenix. My funeral would sure smell good!
5 - Byflickr
Thought of adding spice to an allready spiced article;-)
From ancient times other cultures have been in contact with Sri Lanka to obtain the spices that grow there. The best cinnamon, cloves and other spices are indigenous to Sri Lanka. People arrived to trade in spices and also left some of their culinary practices as well. Sri Lankan cooking has evolved by combining culinary practices of many of these cultures. The most noticeable impacts have been the Portuguese, Dutch, Moor and Malay influences.
6 - Karthik
Really Informative... No doubts..
Nancy, thanks for ur input.. i'm planning to follow u ;). Never mind, just to use vanila in my draws..
7 - Zoe
A lot of people who love to cook are very fond of herbs and spices and look for every opportunity to present them into a dish.
Some cooks go overabundant, and sprinkle them in everything on the off chance they will find something new.
Then there are those who avoid seasonings altogether for fear they will ruin an entire dish by over-seasoning, or worse, adding the wrong seasoning.
One such herb is thyme; its most active ingredient - thymol - is a well-known ingredient in products like Listerine and Vicks.
Thymol has antibacterial and antifungal properties, which makes it useful for a number of things.
Its oil, when inhaled, can help to loosen phlegm and relax the muscles in the respiratory tract and when made into a tea, thyme is helpful for colds and flu. Adding thyme to a dish infuses a whole new flavor and fragrance; its dry aroma and slightly minty flavor allow it to pair perfectly with minced garlic in rubs for lamb, pork, or even beef roasts, or by itself to enhance cheese, tomato, and egg dishes.
Try adding some thyme to stuffing, spaghetti, pizza sauces or chilli.
Thyme retains its flavor on drying better than many other herbs, and dried thyme, especially powdered, occupies less space than fresh, so less of it is required when substituted in a recipe.
As a rule of thumb, use one-third as much dried as fresh thyme, a little less if it is ground.
Thyme is slow to release its flavors so it is best added early in the cooking process to ensure proper flavor penetration.
Thyme is great on roast beef, which makes a great Kummelweck.
Kummelweck or a weck is a roast beef sandwich made famous in Buffalo, New York by being served on a special Kaiser roll topped with lots of pretzel salt and caraway seeds.
Its name comes from its creator who is believed to have been William Wahr, a German baker from the Black Forest, an area of Germany where bread rolls are known as wecks.
View video of how to grow Thyme here.