8- For other uses, see Spice (disambiguation). 9: Spices and herbs at a grocery shop in Goa, India 10: Shop with spices in Morocco 11- -- 14- flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or 15: prevents their growth.^[1] In the kitchen, spices are distinguished 16- from herbs, which are leafy, green plant parts used for flavoring. 17- 18: Many spices are also used for other purposes, such as medicine, 19- religious rituals, cosmetics, perfumery, or eating as vegetables. For -- 26- * 1 Classification and types 27: + 1.1 List of herbs and spices 28- + 1.2 Grouping by plant part -- 33- + 2.3 Early modern period 34: * 3 Handling spices 35- * 4 Production -- 46- 47:[edit] List of herbs and spices 48- 49: Main article: List of herbs and spices 50- -- 52- 53: Spices can be grouped as: 54- * Dried fruits or seeds, such as fennel, mustard, and black pepper. -- 61- 62: Some Spices from the Spice Market in Cairo, used in Arabic cuisine 63- -- 112- to spice merchants. In the biblical poem Song of Solomon, the male 113: speaker compares his beloved to many forms of spices. Generally, 114- Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, and Mesopotamian sources do not refer to 115: known spices.^[citation needed] 116- -- 129- Middle East and India. This made the city of Alexandria in Egypt the 130: main trading centre for spices because of its port. The most important 131- discovery prior to the European spice trade were the monsoon winds (40 -- 140- 141: Spices were among the most demanded and expensive products available in 142- Europe in the Middle Ages, the most common being black pepper, cinnamon 143- (and the cheaper alternative cassia), cumin, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. 144: Given the medieval medicine's main theory of humorism, spices and herbs 145- were viewed as indispensable elements to balance "humors" in food,^[5] -- 147- 148: Spices were all imported from plantations in Asia and Africa, which 149- made them extremely expensive. From the 8th until the 15th century, the -- 152- made the region phenomenally rich. It has been estimated that around 153: 1,000 tons of pepper and 1,000 tons of the other common spices were 154- imported into Western Europe each year during the Late Middle Ages. The -- 157- most exclusive was saffron, used as much for its vivid yellow-red color 158: as for its flavor. Spices that have now fallen into some obscurity in 159- European cuisine include grains of paradise, a relative of cardamom -- 162- modern-day misconception is that medieval cooks used liberal amounts of 163: spices, particularly black pepper, merely to disguise the taste of 164- spoiled meat. However, a medieval feast was as much a culinary event as -- 166- most nobles had a wide selection of fresh or preserved meats, fish, or 167: seafood to choose from, the use of ruinously expensive spices on cheap, 168- rotting meat would have made little sense.^[7] -- 174- 1499. Spain and Portugal were not happy to pay the high price that 175: Venice demanded for spices. At around the same time, Christopher 176- Columbus returned from the New World, he described to investors new 177: spices available there.^[citation needed] 178- -- 185- complemented the Portuguese sea routes, and brought the treasures of 186: the Orient to Europe via Lisbon, including many spices.^[citation 187- needed] 188- 189: With the discovery of the New World came new spices, including 190- allspice, bell and chili peppers, vanilla, and chocolate. This -- 195- In the Caribbean, the island of Grenada is well known^[clarification 196: needed] for growing and exporting a number of spices, including the 197- nutmeg, which was introduced to Grenada by the settlers.^[citation -- 199- 200:[edit] Handling spices 201- 202: A typical home's kitchen shelf of spices as would be seen in the United 203- States or Canada. -- 205- A spice may be available in several forms: fresh, whole dried, or 206: pre-ground dried. Generally, spices are dried.^[8] A whole dried spice 207- has the longest shelf life so can be purchased and stored in larger 208: amounts, making it cheaper on a per-serving basis. Some spices are 209- rarely available either fresh or whole, for example turmeric, and must -- 218- ground spice roughly six months.^[9] The "flavor life" of a ground 219: spice can much shorter.^[10] Ground spices are better stored away from 220- light.^[11] -- 227- 228: Some flavor elements in spices are soluble in water; many are soluble 229- in oil or fat. As a general rule, the flavors from a spice take time to 230: infuse into the food so spices are added early in preparation.^[13] 231- -- 250- 251: The Indian Institute of Spices Research, located at Calicut (Kozhikode) 252- in Kerala, India, is exclusively devoted to conduct research on all -- 258- 1. ^ 259: http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary/search?query=spices 260: 2. ^ ^a ^b A Busy Cook's Guide to Spices by Linda Murdock (p.14) 261- 3. ^ Buccellati et Buccellati (1983) -- 267- 8. ^ A fresh spice, such as ginger, is usually more flavorful than its 268: dried form, but fresh spices are more expensive and have a much 269- shorter shelf life. -- 274- 12. ^ Other types of coffee grinders, such as a burr mill, can grind 275: spices just as well as coffee beans. 276- 13. ^ Spice Capades This contrasts to herbs which are usually added -- 278- 14. ^ International Organization for Standardization (2009). "67.220: 279: Spices and condiments. Food additives". 280- http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_ics_br -- 297- York: Kodansha, 1999. 298: * Czarra, Fred (2009). Spices: A Global History. Reaktion Books. 299- pp. 128. ISBN 9781861894267. [1] 300: * Dalby, Andrew. Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices. Berkeley: 301- University of California Press, 2002. 302: * Freedman, Paul. Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval 303- Imagination. New Haven: Yale UP, 2008. -- 325- * Billing, Jennifer; Sherman, Paul W. (March 1998). "Antimicrobial 326: Functions of Spices: Why Some Like it Hot". The Quarterly Review of 327- Biology 73 (1): 3. doi:10.1086/420058. PMID 9586227. 328: * "Common Kitchen Spices Kill E. Coli O157:H7". 18 August 1998. 329- http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/pr_fsaf/News%20Releases/relspicfung.htm. 330- "...The study is the first in the United States that looks at the 331: effect of common spices on E. coli O157:H7. Previous studies have 332: concluded spices kill other foodborne pathogens. 'In the first part 333: of our study, we tested 23 spices against E. coli O157:H7 in the 334: laboratory', Fung said. 'We found that several spices are good at 335- killing this strain of E. coli.'" 336: * "The Lure and Lore of Spices". 337- http://www.thespicehouse.com/info/lore/. "If the appearance of 338: spices were to reflect their real importance in the history of the 339: world, the bottles of spices would be filled with bright glittery 340- substances, diamonds, rubies, emeralds or gold would be -- 343- softly throughout the room." 344: * "Spice". Encyclopedia of Spices, Spice Blends by Region, The Spice 345: Trade. http://www.theepicentre.com/Spices/spiceref.html. Retrieved 346- 2008-12-20. -- 350- * International Organization for Standardization (2009). "67.220: 351: Spices and condiments. Food additives". 352- http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_ics_br -- 360- Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Spice 361: * List of herbs and spices 362: * List of Indian spices 363- * Spice trade 364- * Condiment 365: * Pungency of spices 366- -- 368- v • d • e 369: Herbs and spices 370- -- 383- 384: Spices 385- -- 413- 414: Lists of herbs and spices 415: Australian herbs and spices · Chinese herbology · Culinary herbs and 416: spices · Indian spices · Pakistani spices 417- -- 457- 458: Confectionery · Dairy products · Fruit · Herbs / Spices · Meat · 459- Vegetable -- 475- Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice" 476: Categories: Spices 477- Hidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles