Spice is the name given to various food seasonings made from plants. Spices have a sharp taste and odor. Some spices are valued for their taste, and others for their smell. People throughout the world flavor their foods and beverages with spices. Common spices include pepper, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, allspice, mace, mustard, and cinnamon.
Spices have little in common except their use. They come from different parts of plants and from different parts of the world. For example, cloves come from the bud, cinnamon from the bark, and pepper and nutmeg from the fruit of each plant. Ginger comes from the root and mustard from the seed.
Spice plants grow in many tropical countries. The Molucca Islands, or Spice Islands , in Indonesia are a famous source of cloves, nutmeg, or mace. Vanilla grows in South America. Many people prefer to grow spice plants such as sage, marjoram, and thyme in their own gardens. They then dry the plants for later use. Some common spice plants grow indoors if they are placed in pots in sunny windows.
Spices have little food value because they are eaten in limited quantity. But they do increase the appetite and aid in digestion. Excessive consumption of spices can sometimes be harmful to the body. Before foods were refrigerated or canned, spices were used to make tainted foods taste better and last longer.
Spices have played an important part in history. The Italian cities of Genoa and Venice became powerful because they were at the center of the spice trade with the East. When Columbus and the early explorers set sail across unknown seas, they were interested in discovering an all-water route to the spice lands of the East. Even in modern times, spices are important to us.
Chemists have identified many of the chemical compounds responsible for the taste and odor of spices. Some of these flavors can now be made synthetically.
See also Spice trade .
