Herbs and Spices Key Terms

Use herbs and spices terminology in the kitchen or for your health

You can use herbs and spices for medicinal purposes, as well as culinary purposes. From adaptogens that can help your body ward off stress to the lovage plant, which can add flavor to your next meal, herbs and spices can serve you in many different ways. Some require more attention then others; for example, herbaceous herbs need hardly any maintenance before their next growing season. Learning herbs and spices key terms can help you use them in the proper ways.

 

Adaptogen

An adaptogen is any natural herb that you can use to increase the body's ability to protect itself against anxiety or trauma or to counter the effects of stress. All adaptogens contain antioxidants.
Try: Be Fit defines adaptogen. The Chiropractic Resource Organization gives examples of adaptogen herbs.

Savory

Savory is a flavor term as well as an herb variety. The term savory means something that is more salty then sweet, such as meats, cheese and vegetables. The herb savory is a pepper-flavored herb used to flavor food.
Try: Sally's Place describes the many different savory herb varieties.

Lovage

Lovage is a mild-flavored herb that is light and clean in flavor and resembles the scent of celery or parsley. You can use it in everything from soups to teas.
Try: LowFatLifestyle.com explains more about the lovage plant.

Mace

Mace comes from the outer shell of the nutmeg fruit, but is sweeter and lighter then nutmeg. Mace has a greater value than that of nutmeg due to the difference in the quantities produced during processing.
Try: The Spice House describes how you can use mace in many applications. Gernot Katzer details the differences between mace and nutmeg.

Herbaceous herbs

Herbaceous herbs will die off into the ground in the winter and return fresh for the next season. You don't need to trim or prune them in order to maintain them. Many of the most frequently used herbs are herbaceous, including oregano, parsley and mint.
Try: Mountain Valley Growers provides details about herbaceous herbs.

Pequin, bird pepper

Pequin, also known as bird pepper, is an extremely hot chile pepper variety often used in Mexican cooking. You can find the pequin as the whole pepper to use while cooking. The pequin is nearly eight times hotter then the jalapeño pepper.
Try: World Spice Merchants gives the particulars of the pequin spice and provides a visual of the spicy pepper.

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