SPICEography 
There are hundreds of species of mint, with the most common varieties being spearmint and peppermint. The consensus among most historians is that the term “mint” in historical texts is usually referring to peppermint. The use of mint dates all the way back to ancient Egypt. Archaeologists have found dried …
Mace comes from the aril of the nutmeg and you can purchase it in whole or ground form. Since mace comes from the nutmeg plant, the two share a common history. Nutmeg originated in a set of Indonesian islands called the Banda Islands. It has been in use from as …
Five-spice powder gets its name from the five elements, not because it contains five spices as many believe. According to traditional Chinese medicine, the five elements are manifested in different parts of the body and if there are imbalances in these elements, disease can result. For thousands of years, different …
Marjoram is indigenous to northern Africa and is a relative of oregano. The cultivation of this herb is believed to have originated in the Mediterranean region, namely Cyprus and Turkey. Both marjoram and oregano are of the Origanum genus and in parts of Europe, what we refer to as oregano …
Like many other popular herbs, basil is a member of the mint family. This herb originated in Persia and India where it has now been cultivated for more than 5,000 years. Today, Egypt and the United States are the primary countries in which basil is grown and exported.
Surrounded by rich folklore, renowned for uses both culinary and medicinal and named for the Greek word meaning ‘king’, basil is indeed considered by many to be the ‘King of Herbs’.
Cilantro is also called coriander and is the source of the coriander seed. Cilantro is a member of the parsley family and there is a close resemblance between the two herbs. In fact, the resemblance is so close that it is fairly easy to mistake one for the other if …
The history of saffron stretches all the way back to the late Bronze Age and back then it had numerous uses just as it does today. Saffron consists of the dried stigmas of the crocus flower and was used in the Middle East as a spice, dye and as perfume. …
Much of the world’s cinnamon comes from southern Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India, and people in those regions have been using cinnamon medicinally for centuries. Skin problems are among the conditions that this spice is used to treat. Cinnamon is versatile and can be used on skin in …