Seeds for Thought: What Adds Interest to Our Diets?

The flavorings that we know and love, particularly at this time of year, come from roots, rhizomes, bark, seeds and fruits of plants and transform our food from bland to spectacular!

Spices have been used for centuries, first medicinally and later as flavorings in food. By the Middle Ages, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and clove were among the most in-demand products in Europe. While explorers were discovering the New World, they were also discovering new flavorings. Among these were allspice, vanilla and chocolate. Let’s look at a few of these staples of cooking and baking.

The fruit of Myristica fragrans, a tree native to Indonesia, is the source of two spices. This tree’s fruit is a drupe with thin skin, fleshy fruit and a stone in the center that contains the seed (an apricot or peach would be common examples of drupes). The fruit splits in two when it’s fully ripe.

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