What's the difference between an herb and a spice?
Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme…
Does anyone else like this song? Whenever we make meals at home, especially pasta, this song comes to mind. After a little research on the song Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme, here is what we discovered. The song is better known as Scarborough Fair/Canticle and was popularized by Simon and Garfunkel in the US is the 1960s. The origin of the song dates back to the 16th century and is derived from a traditional English ballad. The song is about a man looking to find love. During the Renaissance era, parsley represented comfort, sage represented strength, rosemary love, and thyme courage. These herbs symbolized valuable virtues that were significant to understanding the lyrics of the song.
And now onto distinguishing between spices and herbs…
It is actually rather complicated. In the culinary use of these terms, herbs come from the leaves of a plant whereas spices come from the seeds.
The botanical use of the terms is confusing, but we will define an herb in the botanical sense of the word just to be more complete. According to merriam-webster.com, an herb is a “seed producing plant that dies down at the end of growing season.” To add to the confusion, many spices including cardamom, cumin, and turmeric are derived from plants which are herbs botanically.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of spices:
Here is a non-exhaustive list of herbs:
What does your spice and herb stash look like?