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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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