FabulousFusionFood's Spice-based Recipes 5th Page
Arabian spice stall with range of spices for sale.
Welcome to FabulousFusionFood's Spice-based Recipes Page — Spices are typically the stronger of the flavourings added to food. Indeed, in ancient times a spice was defined as anything with a pungent odour. In terms of a modern definition, a spice obtained from the dried fruiting body of a plant. Thus it can be the whole fruit (as in cubeb pepper or allspice berries or cumin) or it is the kernel or seed of the fruit (as in nutmeg and fenugreek seeds or nigella seeds). In contrast, herbs are the vegetative parts of a plant (the stems and leaves) and include lemongrass (stems), thyme (leaves), oregano (leaves). One exception to this rule is the Methi curry leaves (which are the dried leaves of fenugreek) which is generally considered as a spice.
In addition the roots and bark of plants in their dried form are also considered as spices. Thus turmeric and ginger are spices (both derived from roots), as is cinnamon (a bark). Dried plant resins (eg asafoetida or mastic) also count as spices. This section of the website concentrates on spices (with the exception of kaffir lime leaves). It's companion pages FabulousFusionFood's Herb Guide deals with herbs.
In addition the roots and bark of plants in their dried form are also considered as spices. Thus turmeric and ginger are spices (both derived from roots), as is cinnamon (a bark). Dried plant resins (eg asafoetida or mastic) also count as spices. This section of the website concentrates on spices (with the exception of kaffir lime leaves). It's companion pages FabulousFusionFood's Herb Guide deals with herbs.
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices and seasoning do not mean the same thing, but spices fall under the seasoning category with herbs. Spices are sometimes used in medicine, religious rituals, cosmetics, or perfume production. They are usually classified into spices, spice seeds, and herbal categories. For example, vanilla is commonly used as an ingredient in fragrance manufacturing. Plant-based sweeteners such as sugar are not considered spices.
Spices can be used in various forms, including fresh, whole, dried, grated, chopped, crushed, ground, or extracted into a tincture. These processes may occur before the spice is sold, during meal preparation in the kitchen, or even at the table when serving a dish, such as grinding peppercorns as a condiment. Certain spices, like turmeric, are rarely available fresh or whole and are typically purchased in ground form. Small seeds, such as fennel and mustard, can be used either in their whole form or as a powder, depending on the culinary need. A whole dried spice has the longest shelf life, so it can be purchased and stored in larger amounts, making it cheaper on a per-serving basis. A fresh spice, such as ginger, is usually more flavourful than its dried form, but fresh spices are more expensive and have a much shorter shelf life.
To understand precisely why spices have been of great economic importance, see this site's article on the history of the spice trade. For more information on specific spices and their culinary uses see the guide to spices.
For more information on spices, please visit this site's spice guide where you will find information on over 90 spices. You can visit the spice trade information page to learn how the historical spice trade influenced modern global trade and economics.
This is a continuation of the recipes listings for the Spice-based recipes and dishes on this site (the page in fact). If you would like to learn a little more about this history of spices and the methods of cooking with spices then please go to the first listing page for these Spice-based recipes information page. Here you will get just a list of the additional Spice-based recipes on this site.
The alphabetical list of all the spice-based recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 5221 recipes in total:
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Page 5 of 53