Spice facts for kids

Spices at a market in Agadir, Morocco

A group of Indian herbs and spices in bowls

Spices at a market in São Paulo, Brazil

A spice is a part of a plant used to add flavor or color to food. Spices can be seeds, fruits, roots, bark, or other plant parts. They are different from herbs, which are usually the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants. Both spices and herbs are types of seasonings.

Sometimes, spices are also used in medicine, religious ceremonies, cosmetics, or to make perfume. For example, vanilla is often used in fragrances. Sweeteners like sugar are not considered spices.

Spices come in many forms. They can be fresh, whole, dried, or ground into a powder. You might grind spices at home, like black pepper for your meal. Some spices, like turmeric, are usually bought already ground. Small seeds, such as fennel and mustard, can be used whole or as a powder.

Whole, dried spices last the longest. This means you can buy more at once, which can be cheaper. Fresh spices, like ginger, often have a stronger flavor. However, fresh spices cost more and spoil faster.

There isn't enough scientific proof that eating spices directly affects human health.

India produces about 75% of the world's spices. This is why spices are so important in Indian food. Historically, the spice trade grew across India, East Asia, and the Middle East. Europe's desire for spices helped start many explorations in the past.

What Are Spices?

It can be tricky to define exactly what a spice is. Generally, spices come from plants. They are often the dried roots, rhizomes (underground stems), flowers, fruits, seeds, or bark. This is different from herbs, which are usually the leafy parts of plants.

Historically, many people thought spices only came from warm, tropical places. This is because early spices often came from the "Orient" (Asia). But today, we know spices can come from many different climates. For example, caraway seeds grow in cooler regions. Some ingredients like garlic or horseradish are not usually called spices, even though they add a lot of flavor. This is because they were common in European cooking for a long time.

A Journey Through Spice History

It's hard for archaeologists to find old spices. This is because people used them in small amounts, and they don't preserve well.

Ancient Times

The spice trade began around 2000 BCE in India and the Middle East. Early spices included cinnamon and black pepper. In East Asia, people traded herbs and pepper. The ancient Egyptians used herbs for cooking and for mummification. Their need for unique spices helped global trade grow.

Cloves were used in Mesopotamia by 1700 BCE. Some of the oldest writings about spices come from ancient Egypt, China, and India. An Egyptian text from 1550 BCE, called the Ebers Papyrus, lists hundreds of herbal remedies.

By 1000 BCE, medical systems using herbs were common in China, Korea, and India. Spices were first linked to magic, medicine, religion, and preserving food.

Indonesian traders traveled to China, India, the Middle East, and East Africa. Arab merchants helped move spices through the Middle East. This made the Egyptian city of Alexandria a major spice trading hub. A big discovery was the monsoon winds around 40 CE. These winds helped ships sail directly from spice-growing regions to Europe. This slowly replaced land routes.

Spices are even mentioned in the Old Testament. In Genesis, Joseph was sold to spice merchants. In Exodus, manna is described as looking like coriander. The Song of Solomon mentions saffron, cinnamon, and other spices.

Historians believe nutmeg, from the Banda Islands in Southeast Asia, reached Europe by the 6th century BCE. The Romans knew about cloves in the 1st century CE.

The Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, spices were some of the most desired and expensive goods in Europe. Common spices included black pepper, cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. People believed spices helped balance "humors" in food, which was important for health. Rich Europeans also loved spices, thinking they connected them to "paradise." For example, the King of Aragon spent a lot to import spices for his wine in the 12th century.

Spices came from Asia and Africa, making them costly. From the 8th to the 15th century, the Republic of Venice controlled the spice trade with the Middle East. This made Venice and other Italian cities very wealthy. It's thought that about 1,000 tons of pepper and 1,000 tons of other spices came into Western Europe each year. This amount was worth enough grain to feed 1.5 million people for a year. Saffron was the most exclusive spice, valued for its bright yellow-red color and flavor. Some spices, like grains of paradise and long pepper, are less common in European cooking today.

The Age of Exploration

Sailors from Spain and Portugal searched for new ways to trade spices and other goods from Asia. Controlling trade routes and spice-producing areas was a main reason for these voyages. The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sailed to India in 1499. He found pepper there at a much lower price than Venice charged. Around the same time, Christopher Columbus returned from the New World. He told his investors about new spices he found there.

Another group involved in the spice trade was the Ragusans from Dubrovnik in Croatia. The Portuguese, led by Afonso de Albuquerque, gained control of sea routes to India. In the early 1500s, they took islands like Socotra and Ormuz. Later, they captured Goa in India and Malacca on the Malay Peninsula. This allowed Portugal to trade directly with Siam, China, and the Maluku Islands.

The discovery of the New World brought new spices to Europe. These included allspice, chili peppers, vanilla, and chocolate. These new flavors kept the spice trade profitable for many more years.

How Spices Are Used

Turmeric powder, mustard seeds, chilli powder, cumin seeds

Spices are mainly used to flavor food or to make dishes more interesting. They are also used to make cosmetics and incense smell good. In the past, many spices were used in herbal medicine. Because spices were often expensive and rare, owning them also showed off a person's wealth and social status.

Spices and Food Preservation

It is a common myth that people used spices to preserve food or to hide the taste of spoiled meat, especially in the European Middle Ages. This is not true. Spices are not very good at preserving food compared to salting, smoking, pickling, or drying. They also don't hide the taste of spoiled meat well. Spices were always quite expensive. In 15th-century Oxford, a whole pig cost about the same as a pound of pepper, the cheapest spice. Cookbooks from that time also show that spices were added late in cooking, which would not help preserve food. Some even suggested pepper might make food spoil faster.

While some spices can stop germs from growing in a lab, pepper, the most common spice, is not very effective. Salt, which is much cheaper, works much better for preservation.

Types of Spices

A plate of Indian herbs and spices

Plant Parts Used as Spices

Popular Spice Mixtures

Many cultures mix different spices to create unique flavors. Here are some examples:

How to Handle Spices

A shelf of common spices for a home kitchen

Pepper mill

A mortar and pestle is a traditional tool for grinding whole spices. Today, people often use a microplane or fine grater for small amounts. A coffee grinder works well for larger amounts. For spices like black pepper, a special hand grinder or mill is often used.

The flavor of a spice comes from special oils. These oils can lose their strength when exposed to air. Grinding a spice increases its surface area, making it lose flavor faster. So, it's best to store spices whole and grind them just before you use them. Whole dried spices can last about two years. Ground spices last about six months, but their best flavor might fade even sooner. Store ground spices away from light.

Some spice flavors dissolve in water, while many others dissolve in oil or fat. Generally, spices need time to release their flavors into food. So, they are usually added early in the cooking process. This is different from herbs, which are often added later.

Keeping Spices Safe

Sometimes, spices can have tiny germs called Salmonella bacteria. These germs usually don't cause problems if you cook the spices well. But some spices, especially pepper, are often used raw on food. To keep food safe, it's good to cook spices when possible. Also, some spices are treated to make sure they are safe to eat.

Where Spices Come From

Spices and herbs at a shop in Goa, India

Spice Standards

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has rules for spices and condiments. These rules help make sure spices are of good quality and safe to use.

Gallery

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  The Gato Negro café and spice shop (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

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  A spice shop selling a variety of spices in Iran

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  Night spice shop in Casablanca, Morocco

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  A spice shop in Taliparamba, India

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  Spices sold in Taliparamba, India

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  Spice seller at a market in Kashgar, China

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  Spice market, Marrakesh, Morocco

See also

In Spanish: Especia para niños

• Tempering (spices)
• Spice rub