What is the difference between “spices” and “herbs”?
Many people confuse the terms spice and herb. Spices are usually dry and come from the bark, buds, fruits, roots, seeds, or stem of plants and trees. Herbs are the fragrant leaves of plants that grow in temperate climates. Cook with herbs and spices to enhance the flavor of your meals. Add fresh herbs at the end of cooking and use more than you would for dried since fresh herbs aren’t as strong. Herbs and Spices Day is on June 10th For more information please visit: • www.eatright.org • Healthy cooking with Herbs and Spices: lancaster.unl.edu • Eating healthy and managing your Diabetes: diabetes.niddk.nih.
Herbs are the fragrant leaves of plants that do not have woody stems, such as thyme, oregano, peppermint etc. Most often the plants are of the temperate climate zone. Spices are the barks, berries, fruits, roots and stems of all kinds of plants. Most often these are of tropical origin, such as cloves, nutmeg and pepper. Curry is a mixture of spices. Herbs are more fragrant when fresh, whereas spices often are stronger as dried powders. The two terms are often used for both types however. For more information, see http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.
