We all tend to use spices to flavor and spark our food, but what we should know is that spices may offer more than just good taste. Indeed, in some cultures, their medicinal and antiseptic characteristics are revered...

Spices in the World

Worldwide, hundreds of spices are in routine use, from the widely familiar black pepper to the somewhat obscure ajowan seed. 
Ajowan seeds are an Indian spice which come from the plant of the carom. The spice appears in a variety of Indian dishes and it has an intense thyme like flavour
Spices are made from the bark, seeds, roots, resins, and buds of plants. 
Many people also lump herbs, made from the leaves of plants, with spices, although technically herbs should be viewed in a separate category. Vegetables may also be treated as a spice in some circumstances.
Vegetables used in seasoning such as onions and garlic may also be treated as a spice


Spices can be separated into a number of different categories, such as the way a spice behaves in cooking, or the region a spice comes from.

Some people break types of spices up by what a spice does when it is added to food. Sweet, hot, pungent, and tangy are the four primary categories. 
Fennel seeds are an example of a sweet spice
Pepper is a classic hot spice

Asofoetida is an infamously pungent spice.
This is sap from stem and root of a plant, dried into a hard resin.
It is a crucial ingredient in Indian vegetarian cooking


Ginger is a familiar tangy spice.















Often, a balance of three or four of these notes is required to make a dish taste right.

Other people categorize types of spices by their nations of origin in which they are commonly used. Some examples of types divided this way include 
  • Indian spices
  • French spices
  • Mediterranean spices
  • Moroccan spices
Typical Indian grocery store
Typical Moroccan spice market
These cuisines have a few spices which routinely appear, such as turmeric in India, and these flavors are often associated with these regions of the world. 
Moroccan food, for example, doesn't taste quite right without cumin seeds in many cases.

Spice blends like curry powder, Chinese five spice, Mediterranean tapenade and herbes de Provence are also treated as kinds of spices. 

Some common spices which are usually easy to find include: salt, pepper-based flavors like paprika and black pepper, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, ginger, saffron, turmeric, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, anise, mustard, cardamom, and lemongrass.


SOURCES
http://www.worldspice.com/
http://www.spiceadvice.com/encyclopedia/index.html
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