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Happy Friday! It's #PlantAppreciation day for #BlackBotanistsWeek and I want to shout out the plants I use every day––spices! I'm going to try and identify them all on this thread from left to right.
Saffron comes from the plant Crocus sativus. The stigma/styles are what create the spice after being dried. It’s the most expensive spice in the world due to how labor intensive it is to harvest as it is hand-picked. It takes about 80 hours to pick about 2lbs (.9kg) of saffron.
Salvia rosmarinus is the first herbs I was able to recognize in my mother’s garden. There are a bunch of different cultivars. The latin translation of this plant is “dew of the sea” because it thrives in Mediterranean like climates and the leaves/flowers/stems are used in cooking
Piper nigrum fruit’s are what we know to be peppercorn! If you’re a pepper fan you can get different colors of pepper (black, green, and white) which are just different stages of ripeness in the same plant/fruit. It’s “spicy” not because of capsaicin, but because of piperine.
Funny enough, I don’t have coriander (dried fruits/seeds) apparently, but I do have cilantro! Coriandrum sativum stem and leaves are known as cilantro. I am someone who tastes a lemony flavor when consuming cilantro, but many others taste dish soap because of a genetic mutation.
Vanilla, in the orchid fam, is derived from the word vaina meaning sheath or pod. Edmond Albius a Black, ensalved man who lived on the French island of RĂ©union is a VIP in the cultivation of vanilla when he, at the age of 12, how vanilla could be hand pollinated to produce fruits
Cream of tartar, aka potassium bitartrate, is the secret to making puffy cookies. Trust me. CoT is a byproduct of winemaking, so I’m going to give this one to the plants too. It’s low solubility in water crystalizes during fermentation of grape juice. So thank you Vitaceae!
Origanum vulgare's name is derived from oros “mountain” and ganos “brightness”. Who doesn’t want to add brightness of the mountain to their pizza? Leaves can be more flavorful when dried than fresh and good quality oregano can be strong enough the numb the tongue!
Cinnamon comes from the genus Cinnamomum. The flavor comes from the essential oil cinnamaldehyde. When harvesting the inner bark is peeled and the cinnamon curls as it drys. It is often used in sweet dishes, but you’re missing out if you haven’t tried it in a savory dish yet!
Cuminum cyminum is a plant in the Apiaceae family (like coriander, parsley, carrots, and dill) and it’s seeds are dried and ground to make cumin! The spice has been documented for being used for over a millennia. It’s earthy and warm aroma makes it perfect for curries and chili
Also, hopefully you're not like my mom who likes to play games pronounce cumin so suggestively her adult children run out of the kitchen.
