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The word spice comes from Latin species,
meaning a commodity of value and distinction. A spice is a dried
seed, fruit, root, bark, leaf, or vegetative substance used in
cooking recipes as a flavor, colour, or as a preservative that
kills harmful bacteria, but very few of us really know the
medicinal values of spices. Since years, spices are ,thus ,not
only used to flavor recipes but also in form of medicines, in
religious rituals ,as a cosmetic or as a vegetable for example,
turmeric is also used as a preservative and garlic is also used
as a vegetable.Spices have also been used to make the food last
longer in the days when refrigeration was absent.
Ancient Ayurvedic texts prescribe the herbs and spices for
curative and therapeutic functions. Ayurvedic scripts dating
back to 3000 years, Ayurveda has listed both the preventive and
curative properties of various spices. Looking at curative
properties of some of the spices - Ginger prevents dyspepsia,
garlic reduces cholesterol and hypertension and fenugreek is a
good resistance builder and with pepper often serve as
antihistamines, turmeric is used for stomach ulcers and for glow
of the skin.
Spices have been used to make the food last longer in the days
when refrigeration was absent.
Difference between herbs and spices
Herbs, such as basil or oregano, are chopped fine and used
fresh. Spices are used in dried form and used in grounded or
grated form . Small seeds, such as fennel and mustard seeds, are
used both whole and in powder form.
Cooking and spices
According to ayurveda the food that we eat should have all the
six tastes (sweet , sour , salt, bitter, pungent , astringent)
in it. Spices are a flavorful way of accomplishing this rule of
Ayurveda .
How to use spices while cooking?
Spices, in ayurveda, are generally eaten cooked. We can heat the
oil or ghee (clarified butter) and pour the mixture over cooked
foods, or simmer spices with foods like beans or grains as they
cook. Fresh herbs such as cilantro or mint are generally added
at the end of the cooking process, just before serving.
Ayurveda recommends the use of spices/herbs to stimulate the
digestion before a meal, during a meal and after a meal. For
example :eating a bit of fresh ginger and lemon about 30 minutes
before the main meal helps in digestion. Eating dishes cooked
with a variety of spices and herbs helps the process of
digestion,absorption,assimilation,elimination. Chewing fennel
seeds after a meal helps digestion and freshens the breath
naturally as well.
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