SEASONINGS 2

                                                                   ... that makes the difference. 

     I have a chart of seasonings to offer you. I do believe it’s pretty extensive, and I have cooked with just about all of these seasonings at one time or another.  There are five categories I have outlined: spices, herbs, aromatics, peppers, and others… miscellaneous seasonings that need to be mentioned and may or may not fit in another category, but deserve a special mention under a different heading.

     Let me explain the categories simply and briefly here, then give you the chart. And as articles are added I will elaborate on various aspects. And for each of these seasonings I hope to give a separate article and illustration(s). 

  Spices

     Spices are any form of seasoning that is usually dried, and comes from parts of a plant other than stems and leaves. This may be from the roots, flowers, even the flowers stigma, fruit peels, seeds, seed pods, arils (a formation around certain seeds) bark, and resin or dried sap. They often come in the form of a crushed powder, sometimes a blend of powders, but also may come in whole but dried forms.

   Herbs

     Herbs are the greenery of a plant, mostly the leaves and stems of various plants. Often used and chopped in fresh form, they are also used dried and crushed. Other than culinary herbs, there are a great many that are used for medicinal, or perfumed purposes. I’m only discussing those for culinary use here, though some of the cooking herbs are also used for other purposes as well.

   Aromatics

     Aromatics are those plants that have a distinctly pungent smell, and quality that flavors foods. Mostly of the onion and garlic families, and mostly used fresh, they can also be sometimes found dried and/or crushed into powders which some include in the spice category. Many seasonings can overlap into other categories.

   Peppers

     Peppers often called Capsicum cultivars, meaning those plants that have capsiacin in their fruits. Capsicum the fruits containing capsiacin, are  Hot-Spicy to the tongue. There are other seasonings that are “hot” even called pepper, as in pepper corns, but do not contain capsiacin and their hotness is the result of concentrations of other chemical compounds. But for my purposes here the “Pepper” category will only be those which grow capsicum fruits.

   Others

     The category of others, will be those seasonings that do not fit any other categories, or those spices or such that are so different in form and or use, that they need to be mentioned separate from the other categories. 

     And so here is the chart. And future articles will elaborate on each one, and/or on properties and propagation, times of the year, and geography.

SEASONINGS CHART
SPICES	HERBS	AROMATICS	PEPPERS	OTHERS
Dried seeds, roots, bark,  more	Fresh or dried leaves or flowers	Alliums, Mostly fresh roots and dried	Capsicum cultivars	Various additions to consider
Ajwan	Angelica	Chives	Banana Peppers	Asafetida
All spice	Avocado leaves	Cebollitas Asadas	Bell Peppers	Balsam
Amchur	Basil	Cipollini	Birds eye peppers	Citron
Anardana	Bay leaf	Egyptian onions	Cascobel	Lemon zest dried
Anise	Borage	Elephant garlic	Cayenne	Lime zest
Anise star	Bouquet Garni	Garlic	Chili Hatch	Horse Radish
Black pepper	Cilantro	Green onions	Chili Anaheim	Orange rind
Caraway	Chamomile	Leeks	Chili powder	Salt
Cardamom	Dill weed	Onions	Cubanelle	Sugar
Cinnamon	Hibiscus	Pearl onions	Habanera	Wasabi
Cloves	Kaffir	Scallions	Italian long
Coriander	Kala Jerra	Shallots	Jalapeno
Cumin	Lavender		Paprika
Curry powder	Lovage		Pasilla de Oscaca
Dill seeds	Mint		Pepperoncini
Fennel	Malabar Leaves		Poblano
Fennel pollen	Marjoram		Pimento
Fenugreek	Oregano		Red pepper flakes
Five spice	Parsley		Serrano
Garam masala	Rose hips		Scotch Bonnet
Ginger	Rosemary		Thai peppers
Grains of paradise	Sage		Tabasco
Juniper berries	Sassafras leaves (gumbo file)		Yellow emperor
Long pepper	Tarragon
Mace	Thyme
Machalepi
Mustard seed
Nigella
Nutmeg
Paprika
Peppercorns colored
Saffron
Sumac
Tamarind powder
Turmeric

     Blessings mes amis