Other herbs and spices: achiote to Szechuan pepper

Abstract: The International Standards Organisation (ISO) lists 109 plant species that are used as spices and culinary herbs. Among them, a few are widely used, grown commercially and traded internationally. A few others are less widely used, nevertheless they are known and used widely, while the others are less well known, cultivated only in restricted regions and are classified as under-utilized. These under-utilized herbs and spices are nevertheless valuable in culinary art to impart unique taste and flavour and also as medicinal herbs. This, the first of the two chapters dealing with such herbs and spices, looks at 11 examples, namely achiote (annatto), chamomile, galanga, horseradish, hyssop, juniper berry, kokum, large (or black) cardamom, lemon balm, long pepper and Sichuan pepper are dealt with briefly here. In the case of each, brief description, chemical composition, medicinal uses and uses in food are provided.

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