1. Herbs and Spices

2. Herb Usage  When using herbs and spices to season foods, it is important to use them sparingly.  Herbs should be used to enhance the food’s natural flavors, rather than to dominate them. Only very heavily spiced, exotic dishes require a large amounts of flavoring in their preparation.

3. Herb Usage  Oils give herbs their aromas and flavors that are volatile and can be destroyed if injured.  Select just enough herbs to be used, dried or frozen, the same day.  Herbs should look healthy, fresh and clean, with out any type of discoloring.

4. Herbs  In general use, herbs are any plant used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume. Culinary use typically distinguishes herbs as referring to the leafy green parts of a plant (either fresh or dried)..

5. History In the story of Genesis, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers to spice merchants. Archaeological excavations have uncovered clove burnt onto the floor of a kitchen dated to 1700 BCE, at the Mesopotamian site of Terqa, in modern-day Syria.

6. Dried Vs. Fresh VS.

7. Dried Herbs  Dried herbs vs. Fresh herbs  Use more fresh herbs than you would dried herbs  The loss of moisture strengthens and concentrates the flavors of dried herbs  In general use half the amount of dried herbs than you would when using fresh herbs

8. Basic Herbal Formulas  Dried herbs are more concentrated than fresh, and powdered herbs are more concentrated than crumbled.  Each herb is slightly different but a starting formula is: 1/4 teaspoon powdered herbs is equaled to 3/4 to 1 teaspoon crumbled or the equivalent of 2 to 4 teaspoons fresh.

9. Commonly used Types of Herbs  Parsley leaf  Flat and Curly Matches well with: chicken, eggplant, eggs, fish, game, lentils, mushrooms, mussels, pasta, peas, potatoes, poultry, rice, seafood, tomatoes, zucchini, lemon

10. Commonly used Types of Herbs  Chervil  Sometimes mistaken for parsley  Used for flavoring fish, chicken, or omelettes  A member of the parsley family, chervil has a mild flavor with hints of liquorice or anise.

11. Basil It is paired most often with tomatoes. Basil is primarily used in sauces, pizzas, salads and pasta dishes. It is also the main ingredient used in pesto.

12. Thyme Included in seasoning blends for poultry and stuffing and also commonly used in fish sauces, chowders, and soups. It goes well with lamb and veal as well as in eggs and croquettes. Thyme if often paired with tomatoes.

13. Oregano Goes well with vegetables, roast beef, lamb, chicken and pork. Marjoram goes well with all pork and veal and complements or stuffing for poultry.

14. Rosemary  Rosemary's aromatic flavor blends well with garlic and thyme to season lamb roasts, meat stews, and marinades.  Rosemary also enlivens lighter fish and poultry dishes, tomato sauces, and vegetables.  Dress fresh steamed red potatoes and peas or a stir fried mixture of zucchini and summer squash.  Rosemary has a tea like aroma and a piney flavor. Crush leaves by hand or with a mortar and pestle before using.

15. Rosemary

16. Dill Is good in soups, omelets, seafood dishes, herring, salmon, potato salads, and steamed vegetables. Dill seed is used in breads, pickling, cabbage dishes, stews, rice and cooked root vegetables.

17. Chives Lifts many foods above the ordinary. Sprinkle them on soups, salads, chicken, potatoes, cooked vegetables and egg dishes. Blend chopped chives with butter or cream cheese, yogurt sauces and baked potatoes. Add toward the end of cooking or as a garnish.

18. Bay Leaf Fragrant bay leaves are a basic ingredient of bouquet garni, but they have other wonderful uses. Bay leaves may be added to many fish dishes, particularly salmon, custards, stews, rice dishes and especially soups.

19. Tarragon Together with parsley, chervil, and chives make a traditional French blend, Fines Herbes. Tarragon is exceptional in egg dishes, poached fish, mushrooms and other vegetables. Tarragon is good with chicken and in salad dressings. It is often used in sauces like béarnaise and French cuisine. Tarragon is also often used to infuse vinegar and olive oils.

20. Mints  Mint is used for seasoning lamb, vegetable such as carrots, bell pepper, and tomatoes, in yogurt dressings, and breads. It is also used in the Middle East for salads, tabouli and marinated vegetables.  Mint is good in soups, salads, sauces, plain meat, fish and poultry, stews, sweet or savory recipes, extremely good with chocolate or lemon based desserts. Add near the end of cooking for a better flavor.  Many types of mint exist, including creeping types that make excellent ground cover and varieties that grow up to two feet in height.

21. Edible Flowers  Varieties of Edible Flowers

22. Culinary Uses for Herbs  Make herbal butters and cream cheeses by mixing 1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh herbs to 1/2 cup margarine, butter, cottage cheese, low fat yogurt or cream cheese.  Let it set for at least an hour to blend the flavor; then taste test on a plain cracker or a melba round.

23. Culinary uses for herbs  For salsa, hot sauces and picante, add finely chopped fresh or dried herbs directly to the mixture

24. Culinary uses for herbs  Flavor vinegar for use in cooking and in vinaigrettes. Bruise one cup of leaves for every 2 cups of white wine or delicate vinegar. allow to steep for two weeks.

25. Herbal Salads  Herbal Salad  Herbs and Edible Flowers  Tabouleh Salad

26. More Culinary uses Tarragon ice cream, sorbets, and sauces.

27. Spices  a "spice", a product from another part of the plant (usually dried), including seeds, berries, bark, roots and fruits.

28. History  Humans were using spices in 50,000 BCE  The word spice comes from the Old French word espice.  By 1000 BCE, medical systems based upon herbs could be found in China, Korea, and India.  Early uses were connected with magic, medicine, religion, tradition, and preservation.

29. History Spices were among the most demanded and expensive products available in Europe in the Middle Ages, the most common being black pepper and cinnamon

30. Spices  Salt and pepper is the common name for edible salt and black pepper, a traditionally paired set of condiments found on dining tables where European-style food is eaten. The pairing of salt and pepper as table condiments dates to seventeenth-century.

31. Additional Salt Flavors Salts can come in different flavors. These are used to add interesting tastes and aromatic infusions into dishes.

32. Peppercorns  Peppercorns have a long history of use as a condiment and a currency during human civilization. Peppercorns were first used as a spice more than 4000 years ago.

33. Peppercorns  Piper nigrum: The peppercorn plant belongs to the piperaceae plant family. It is a woody evergreen vine that grows up to 11 yards tall and has dark green, broad, somewhat oval shaped leaves. The plants use aerial roots to help them cling to, and climb trees. Peppercorn plants have small white flowers that bloom in clusters of up to 150 florets and hang down in a spike. These flowers then ripen into the little berries that we know as peppercorns. It takes several years for a young plant to flower and begin to produce fruit (the peppercorns). Since peppercorn plants prefer hot, humid, tropical environments, they are mostly produced in India, although production also occurs in Indonesia, Brazil, and other tropical places. Black pepper often takes on the name of the region where it is produced.

34. Peppercorns  Immature Green Peppercorns have a fresh & spicy flavor that livens foods while adding a slightly milder peppercorn heat.  Freshly Ground Black Pepper provides a delightfully spicy kick and that unique peppercorn flavor. (Black Tellicherry & Malabar varities)  White Peppercorns deliver a clean, spicy peppercorn taste without the flavor or dark specks from the peppercorn's outer coating.  Pink Peppercorns have a lovely fruity flavor and a mild pepper flavor without any of the heat.  Sichuan Pepper has a unique aroma and flavour that is not hot or pungent like black, white or chili peppers. Instead, it has slight lemony overtones and creates a tingly numbness in the mouth (caused by its 3% of hydroxy alpha sanshool) that sets the stage for hot spices. According to Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking, second edition, p429 they are not simply pungent; they produce a strange, tingling, buzzing, numbing sensation that is something like the effect of carbonated drinks or of a mild electrical current (touching the terminals of a nine-volt battery to the tongue). Sanshools appear to act on several different kinds

35. Assorted Peppercorns  Schechwun and assorted peppercorns

36. Additional Spices Cayenne, a hot, pungent powder made from various tropical chiles. The cayenne chile is a bright red chile that ranges from 2-5 inches long and about 1/2 inch in diameter. Cayenne chiles are generally sold dried and used in soups and sauces. The majority of cayenne chiles are used to make cayenne pepper. Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods. Nutmeg and mace, have similar sensory qualities, with nutmeg having a slightly sweeter and mace a more delicate flavour. Mace is often preferred in light dishes for the bright orange, saffron-like hue it imparts. Nutmeg is used for flavouring many dishes, usually in ground or grated form, and is best grated fresh in a nutmeg grater.

37. Additional Spices  Star anise is the seed pod of an evergreen tree (Illicium Verum) grown in southwestern China and Japan. It has a mild licorice flavor.  Black cardamom has a distinctly more smokey, though not bitter, aroma, with a coolness some consider similar to mint.  Green cardamom is one of the most expensive spices by weight, but little is needed to impart the flavor. It has a “gingery” flavor. Because each flower's stigmas need to be collected by hand and there are only a few per flower, saffron is the most expensive spice in the world.[citation needed]

38. Additional Spices Saffron Because each flower's stigmas need to be collected by hand and there are only a few per flower, saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae.

39. Spices  Most herbs and spices have substantial antioxidant activity, owing primarily to phenolic compounds, especially flavonoids, which influence nutrition through many pathways, including affecting the absorption of other nutrients. One study found cumin and fresh ginger to be highest in antioxidant activity. These antioxidants also can act as natural preservatives, preventing or slowing the spoilage of food, leading to a higher nutritional content in stored food.  End of Slide Show