Herbs and spices are the reason our meals don’t taste dull and bland. Simply adding herbs and spices can transform any regular dish into a masterpiece, and some dishes we know and love won’t even exist without them. But what’s the difference between these two groups?
Herbs and spices are both very important in the cooking world, and it’s not always easy to tell where one group stops and another begins. While there’s some overlapping, herbs are usually defined as leaves of herb plants that are used to add flavor to cooking. These leaves can be fresh or dried, whole, chopped, or ground. Herb plants offer much more than leaves, though, so their other parts are often used to create spices. Spices come from flowers, roots, seeds, and bark of certain plants. While herbs are typically green (or gray-ish if dried), spices come in many different colors, depending on what they’re made of.
Do you have a favorite herb or spice? Have you tried experimenting with less known spices in your kitchen?
