Spice
Plant substances used for flavouring, colouring, and historic trade.
Spices come from plant parts like seeds, fruits, roots, bark, and similar sources, used mainly to add flavor or color to food. They differ from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for taste or as a garnish—though both are seasonings. Beyond cooking, spices appear in medicine, religious ceremonies, cosmetics, and perfume making. They are grouped into categories like spices, spice seeds, and herbs. Vanilla, for instance, often shows up in fragrance production. Plant-based sweeteners such as sugar are not counted as spices.
Spices can be used fresh, whole, dried, grated, chopped, crushed, ground, or turned into a tincture. These forms may be prepared before sale, during cooking, or even at the table—like grinding peppercorns as a condiment. Some spices are rarely found fresh or whole and are typically bought already ground. Small seeds, such as fennel and mustard, work either whole or powdered. Whole dried spices last the longest, so they can be bought in bulk and are cheaper per serving. Fresh spices, like ginger, usually taste stronger than dried ones, but they cost more and spoil faster.
A 2019 review found that most claimed health benefits of spices lack solid clinical evidence, though it noted that polyphenols in spices might offer some advantages. India produces 75% of the world’s spices, which is reflected in its cuisine. The spice trade historically grew across the Indian subcontinent, East Asia, and the Middle East. Europe’s hunger for spices helped drive exploration in the early modern period.
Defining "spice" is tricky, but definitions often share common points. One is the biological source: the Oxford English Dictionary says spices come from vegetables, while Redgrove (1933) specifies dried roots, rhizomes, flowers, fruits, seeds, and bark, contrasting with herbs. The Oxford Companion to Food challenges the plant-only rule, noting that ambergris—an animal product—is often called a spice. Another aspect is geography: the OED ties spices to the tropics, but the Companion points to caraway seeds as a temperate example. Historically, "spice" meant goods from the Orient. After Europeans reached the Americas during the Columbian exchange, the term expanded to include new aromatics, then later shifted to focus on culinary use. This history explains why some European ingredients like garlic and horseradish aren’t considered spic
- field
- Culinary arts, trade, medicine, perfumery
- known_for
- Flavouring and colouring food; driving global exploration and trade
- primary_producer
- India (75% of global production)
- common_forms
- Fresh, whole, dried, grated, chopped, crushed, ground, tincture
Lore & Background
The spice trade developed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Middle East by 2000 BCE with cinnamon and black pepper, and in East Asia with herbs and pepper. Egyptians used herbs for cuisine and mummification. Cloves were used in Mesopotamia by 1700 BCE. The earliest written records of spices come from ancient Egyptian, Chinese, and Indian cultures. The Ebers Papyrus from early Egypt dating from 1550 BCE describes some eight hundred different herbal medicinal remedies. By 1000 BCE, medical systems based on herbs could be found in China, Korea, and India. Early uses were associated with magic, medicine, religion, tradition, and preservation. Indonesian merchants travelled around China, India, the Middle East, and the east coast of Africa. Arab merchants facilitated the routes through the Middle East and India, making Alexandria the main trading center for spices. The most important discovery before the European spice trade was the monsoon winds (40 CE).
Reader's Guide
Spices were among the most demanded and expensive products available in Europe in the Middle Ages, the most common being black pepper, cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Given medieval medicine's theory of humorism, spices and herbs were indispensable to balance 'humors' in food. The European elite craved spices, believing them to be from and a connection to 'paradise'. Spices were all imported from plantations in Asia and Africa, making them expensive. From the 8th until the 15th century, the Republic of Venice held a monopoly on the spice trade with the Middle East. It has been estimated that around 1,000 tons of pepper and 1,000 tons of other common spices were imported into Western Europe each year during the Late Middle Ages. Voyagers from Spain and Portugal sought new routes to trade in spices. Vasco da Gama sailed to India in 1499 and secured peppers for a much lower cost than demanded by Venice. The Portuguese took control of sea routes to India, and with the discovery of the New World came new spices including allspice, chili peppers, vanilla, and chocolate. Spices are primarily used as food flavouring or to create variety, and their conspicuous consumption has often been a symbol of wealth and social class.
Did You Know?
- India contributes to 75% of global spice production.
- A whole dried spice has the longest shelf life, making it cheaper on a per-serving basis.
- Vanilla is commonly used as an ingredient in fragrance manufacturing.
- The Ebers Papyrus from early Egypt dating from 1550 BCE describes some eight hundred different herbal medicinal remedies.
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