Do you know the difference between a Herb and a Spice?

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening,

Exemplary post ..

According to the Almanac, herbs are taken from herbaceous plants ( non Woody ).

Spices on the other hand are obtained from the barks, seeds, fruits, roots and flowers, and dried in most cases.

In some cases, the herb & the spice may come from the same plant ..

www.almanac.com/blog/home/herbs-and-spices/difference-between-herbs-and-spices

Have a lovely Saturday.
 
morning glory said:
Its confusing. This is a specialist spice (and herb) company in the U.S.:
https://www.americanspice.com/spices-and-herbs/



The website goes on to differentiate between herbs and spices, correctly. But I'm fascinated by the statement which I've hi-lighted in red. This implies that Chefs in America confuse, or merge the two terms! I'm struggling to understand this as I've watched American cookery shows and have never noticed this to be the case. In this country I've noticed occasionally that people who know very little about cooking sometimes confuse the two. But certainly not anyone who is a serious cook or professional chef. Supermarkets here differentiate between the two as well.
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You are quite possibly right about the US/UK difference.
Herbs and spices are used interchangeably. On most cooking shows here they don't say herb or spice just the name. And as to our supermarkets, on the aisle marker it is listed as spices. On the shelves, all herbs and spices are in alphabetical order together according to brand. So you won't have Mccormick and Adams together but you will have cilantro next to cinnamon.
 
If you really want to get technical, the mint family of mints, i.e. spearmint, peppermint, basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, savory, lavender, lemon balm, and many more are not true herbs, in that they are not from the herbaceous family of plants. Herbaceous plants are those that have soft stems that do not turn woody. Most mints have stems, that when left to mature, turn a bit woody. But for culinary purposes, the mint leaves are considered herbs. And I have no idea hwy I thought this important enough to post. I guess I just like to share info.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
:scratchhead: so much confusion about such a simple subject.

IDK about US vs UK definitions.

I have always kind of related herbs and spices to gardening terms - herbs are from green stuff and spices are from brown stuff. That keeps things clear to me.

I am a good home :cook: but still a novice in the area of gourmet cooking - please don't confuse me more than I am already. :hyper:

Sometimes simple things can become too technical and cumbersome.

An interesting topic.

Good day to you all.
 
Alright, let me see if I got this;

Underground is spice.
Over ground is herb unless it is a seed.

DILL ! I forgot that in my recipe for killer spice. I wonder what the deal is on editing here...

But I got dill seed and dill weed. Itis obvious the weed is herb and the seed is spice, right ? THis jogged my memory now, i wanted dill seed in it which I generally would mortar and pestle some, but I wound up putting dill weed in it that I bought mainly for tzatziki sauce.

So, above ground herb unless a seed, below ground spice.

Anyone splittingsich hairs might also be interested in strawberries. i hear that a strawberry is not a fruit. Thoe little things all over it are the fruit. The big red thing I am not sure, possibly the flower ? But not a fruit.

And many rememebr the saying; Smart is kowing tomto is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to put it in fruit salad>

sorrry< progrmis messed up< gotta go and come back

t
 
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That was weird, I mistakenly hit a key too many times and it started asking if I wanted sticky keys. Every time this happens is messes something up and this made it select everything and no caps.

I see I was done though...

<happy now, or less unhappy, kinda relative...
Naw, I am happy. (here, but eventully I go back out in that political jungle)
Be happy.
Be well.

T
 
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Bit late to this thread, but it´s something that interests me very much since I work a lot with Indian cusine, and therefore, spices.
What´s the difference between a spice and a herb? Honestly, and unless we´re going to be pedantic, it doesn´t matter as long as we use them right. Both herbs and spices are potent flavour additions, so the first thing is - be careful, don´t overdo it. the second thing is - fresh vs dried; whole vs ground. Fresh herbs are infinitely tastier than dried; whole spices retain their essential oils for longer, and are therefore best ground just before use. Dried herbs and ground spices have a short-ish shelf life; you may not think there´s much difference, but basically, the vibrant or pungent flavour gradually fades away.
 
I've always thought of herbs as originating from the leaves of plants and spices from other parts of the plants. Sounds like it is more complicated than that. Then there is salt which is neither. It is a mineral and yet is the most common flavoring ingredient in the cooking world.
 
blades said:
I've always thought of herbs as originating from the leaves of plants and spices from other parts of the plants. Sounds like it is more complicated than that. Then there is salt which is neither. It is a mineral and yet is the most common flavoring ingredient in the cooking world.
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I think that's pretty much true. Herbs are leaves and/or stalks, spices are roots, berries, seeds and so on.

Salt is interesting (neither herb nor spice). I wonder if there are other 'seasoning ingredients' that are minerals. Well, obviously there are other minerals in foodstuffs but are there any we use to season when cooking?
 
Morning Glory said:
I think that's pretty much true. Herbs are leaves and/or stalks, spices are roots, berries, seeds and so on.

Salt is interesting (neither herb nor spice). I wonder if there are other 'seasoning ingredients' that are minerals. Well, obviously there are other minerals in foodstuffs but are there any we use to season when cooking?
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I'm not aware of any. Salt has the critical characteristic of being soluble in water. Not may minerals are.
 
An interesting detail I scrounged from the web today.
Bananas are, botanically, herbs and berries. They're herbs because they never form a solid stalk.
And they're berries , well, the technical explanation is a bit complicated.
 
karadekoolaid said:
An interesting detail I scrounged from the web today.
Bananas are, botanically, herbs and berries. They're herbs because they never form a solid stalk.
And they're berries , well, the technical explanation is a bit complicated.
Click to expand...
They meet all the requirements to be considered a fruit, I think.
 
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