Fresh Advice on Herbs and Spice

Oregano on tomatoes, rosemary with lamb, cinnamon in apple pie and vanilla in ice cream ... all are harmonious combinations, and all are proven winners in the culinary world of flavoring foods with herbs and spices. Today's consumers, though, seek bolder flavor dimensions.

New flavors on old favorites invigorate consumers, and at the same time, help retain a degree of familiarity. Gone are the days of individually frozen pieces of salmon. In their place are marinated filets or pepper-crusted steaks. Chicken breasts are infused with herbed butters. Even salad dressings are zestier and more exotic. Indeed, herbs and spices provide the means to innovate, sometimes resulting in fierce flavors, and other times providing simple, delicate tones.

Food formulators take note: When working with herbs, spices and seasonings, a little goes a long way, and a little more does not usually make a food taste better. It is important to understand the potency of these flavorful ingredients -- ingredients that can turn a basic recipe into a signature success, or a savory disaster.

Though often used interchangeably by the lay consumer, food formulators and culinarians recognize the distinction between flavorings referred to as herbs and those that are called spices. The general consensus among food industry experts is that the term "herb," which has its origins in the Latin herba, meaning a grass or other green plant, refers to the actual plant, while a spice is made from dried seeds or bark. A variety of flavor substances in the marketplace are misclassified as spices. These flavoring ingredients typically use the terms powder, salt or seasoning in their names. The most common spice-like flavorings are the vegetables garlic and onion.

In the regulatory world, despite botanical differences, FDA groups all such flavorings together as spices. Many are designated GRAS and listed in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 21 CFR Pt. 182, Sec. 10. But a signature flavor can remain a secret. According to FDA, when herbs, spices and most other flavorings are added into a food product, they may be declared on the ingredient list without naming the specifics. For example, ingredient panels can use language such as natural flavors, herbs, spices, etc. Only when a representation of a specific flavor of the food product is made does the herb, spice or other flavoring ingredient need to be named.

For food manufacturing, formulators most commonly use frozen or dried herbs rather than fresh. Freeze-dried herbs are used in applications such as herb blends, dip mixes, breads and packaged seasonings. The typical process of freeze-dried herbs is with refrigerated vacuum systems to help retain color, shape, flavor and even the nutritional or medicinal value of the plant. These ingredients are shelf-stable at ambient temperatures and quickly rehydrate in food applications. Air-dried herbs tend to be less flavorful, but if price is an issue, they likely are more economical than their freeze-dried counterparts.

Herbs can be crushed or ground. However, this increases surface area allowing more volatiles to escape, typically making them less flavorful than whole dried herbs. Because many people "taste" with their eyes, it often is desirable to use whole herbs in prepared foods, as consumers can begin to anticipate a certain flavor profile when they see a familiar herb. The application can also dictate the size in other ways. "Particle size is important in adhesion in snack-food topical applications, for visual appeal, desired color and control," says Reid Wilkerson, president, McClancy Seasoning Co., Fort Mill, SC.

Culinary professionals typically prefer fresh herbs for their intense flavor profile, which is often lost during the drying process. Because only some small-scale manufacturing environments can deal with fresh-ingredient management, suppliers now offer individually quick-frozen (IQF) herbs, which retain most of their fresh characteristics.

For example, Van Drunen Farms, Momence, IL, produces both blanched and unblanched frozen sweet basil. The blanching process helps the basil retain its bright-green color, making it ideal for salad dressings, dips, pesto and other uncooked applications. Unblanched basil has less color, but retains more of the fresh flavor notes and is used in cooked products, such as pasta and pizza sauces and soups.

Kitchen cupboards and product-development labs alike are typically loaded with containers of dried spices. What most home cooks forget, but product developers must not, is that spices lose their potency over time. It is important that the same age of spices with similar flavor profiles be used during manufacturing as during product development.

"The flavor of spices and herbs can be affected by weather conditions, for example, too much or not enough moisture, country of origin, age and storage conditions," says Abe Sendros, marketing manager, McCormick & Company Inc., Hunt Valley, MD. "We have strict quality control procedures to ensure that each lot matches a gold standard and meets our internal specifications for various chemical and physical characteristics."

As a natural agricultural material versus a lab creation, herbs and spices experience fluctuations in composition. For example, Wilkerson points out, "the greater the moisture content, the less volatile oil will be present on a per pound basis given the same starting point from harvest."

Some seasonings are actually spice blends. For example, curry gets its name from only one of the ingredients in this Southern Indian flavor. Its namesake -- the curry leaf -- is the aromatic leaf of the small tree Murraya koenigii, a member of the same plant family as citrus. The term "curry" is derived from the Tamil word kari, which means "spiced sauce." Curry has come to mean a blend of ground curry leaf with coriander, cumin, mustard seed, red and black pepper, fenugreek and turmeric, with the possible inclusion of cinnamon, cloves and/or cardamom.

Other seasonings and spice blends are less standardized, and often are customized with a specific application in mind. Many times such blends contain other ingredients including salt, stabilizers and/or fat.

"As we develop a flavor solution for our customers, we attempt to learn all aspects of their application and process so that we are able to design the optimal product," says Bill Rauh, manager, seasoning product development, McCormick & Company. "We take many parameters, such as particle size, desired flavor profile, stability and cost, into consideration as we are designing a system. If the application is a snack, flowability and adhesion are critical, thus particle size is an important issue. If the end use is a product for a restaurant steam table, then achieving stability using the appropriate starch system is a critical issue."

Rauh continues: "Of course, functionality is of little importance if the product does not taste great, which means that the desired flavor profile is always a target. To get there, we use the form of raw material that works best in the specific application. That might involve whole or ground herbs in dried forms, oleoresins, or even liquid or dry flavors."

Because such small amounts of herbs and spices are used on a percentage basis in a formula or recipe, food manufacturers will work with suppliers to design a blend of all the flavoring ingredients. This reduces the chance of error when measuring small amounts, because a little goes a long way.

"Meeting trends is always a consideration in product development," says Rauh. "To satisfy an ever-changing industry, we are constantly adding new and exciting flavors to meet the latest trends. Recently, in addition to seasonings with bold flavors, blends that fit ethnic cooking styles have been common. Spice blend requests have included herbs de Provence, Chinese five spice, Mexican chiles and numerous sweet spice blends. 'Hot' seasonings now include Thai red curry, wasabi ranch, spicy cheese and hot sauce blends."

Spice blend choices are not just related to flavors, but also to applications. Wilkerson notes another spice-related trend that can incorporate creative cross-cuisine infusion, "Proper design and application can create an 'encrusted' effect on cross-section presentation items for the center of the plate -- almond-spiced pork tenderloin, fish, etc."

Herbs and spices are insoluble, so certain product-development applications could benefit from an alternative to whole or ground. "There are instances where visible pieces of an herb or spice are a deterrent to the finished product," says Sendros.

Essential oils are the volatile fractions of herbs and spices that are typically extracted by steam distillation. Oleoresins are the essential oils, plus the nonvolatile components. Oleoresins are solvent-extracted and produce a closer approximation of the natural herb and spice flavor than an essential oil. Both essential oils and oleoresins are oil-soluble; adding polysorbate 80, mono- and diglycerides, and water-soluble gums to oleoresins can create a liquid water-disperable seasoning. Oleoresins plated onto dry carriers, such as dextrose, salt and flour, provide a powdered form. Spray-drying oleoresins or using other encapsulation techniques with carbohydrates results in another dry form: encapsulated spices.

Suppliers standardize essential oils and oleoresins so that the extractives produce the same flavor from batch to batch and year to year. This standardization reduces the chance of variation in quality and flavor profile from different herb and spice crops, providing for a more consistent finished product.

"Our spice alternatives are made from the extracts of natural spices and herbs and therefore, maintain the sensory properties of the spice or herb, without the seasonal variation inherent in the natural form," concludes Sendros. "An added bonus to using spice alternatives is often realized cost-in-use savings."

So what are the most common herbs and spices, and their associated flavor profiles?

One of the oldest and most familiar of all the herbs is mint, of which there are many varieties as well as uses. Spearmint is described as having a sweet, refreshing profile, while peppermint has a more pungent, menthol taste. Mint jelly and chutney often accompany lamb dishes. Mixing mint with a yogurt base can create a sauce for Middle Eastern dishes. Frozen vegetable dishes become gourmet when topped with a mint sprig instead of the more common parsley. Though most herbs are associated with savory foods, mint is the most likely to show up in desserts ranging from ice cream to chocolate, and in beverages from tea to hot cocoa.

The herb commonly called oregano can actually come from a few different plants. Greek oregano (Origanum heracleoticum) is used in tomato-based foods and sauces, oils, olives and meats. Mexican oregano is the dried leaf of one of several plants of the Lippia genus and has a similar, but a stronger, aroma. Italian oregano (O. x majoricum) results from a cross of Greek oregano and marjoram. Because of its composition, oregano can produce antioxidant and antimicrobial effects in food applications.

Rad Natural Technologies Ltd., Petah Tikva, Israel, manufactures an oregano-based extract called Origanox, distributed in the Americas by Barrington Nutritionals, Harrison, NY. According to Rina Reznik, Ph.D., scientific director at Rad Natural Technologies, this is a "water-soluble extract from Origanum vulgare, which is standardized to a high antioxidant activity. The main active compounds responsible for its antioxidant and antimicrobial activity include rosmarinic acid, caffeic acid and protocatechuic acid. The key to Origanox's effectiveness is its hydrophilic properties and its ability to be active at the cell and tissue surface." Rather than manufacturers trying to work with the regular spice, this ingredient is easily dissolved into an aqueous brine or marinade system for injection or tumbling applications and is effective at low levels.

Another dual-personality herb is marjoram. Sweet marjoram, (O. majorana), as its name suggests, possesses a sweet, delicate flavor. Pot marjoram (O. onites), a native of Sicily, is a slightly stronger variety.

Basil also possesses a sweet flavor profile and typically smells of cloves. There are many varieties of basil. Sweet basil, the most common, is famous in pesto, although other applications mimic oregano. Thai, or Asian, basil has a pungent, anise aroma. Lemon basil, as evidenced by its name, emits a citrus fragrance.

Chives also come in many varieties, each with a unique flavor profile. The most common form of chive has a faint onion flavor, whereas Chinese chive has a garlic profile. Chives freeze well but lose most of their flavor when dried. However, chive is a very popular garnish, and dried chive is used just as often for decorative reasons as fresh or frozen chive is for flavor.

Another decorative herb is parsley, which as a garnish is typically used fresh. Product designers add parsley to many sauces, soups and stews, regardless of the ethnic origin or flavor profile. For Americans, right up there with baseball and apple pie, is chicken soup with parsley flakes. Flat-leaf parsley, also called Italian parsley, is tastier and has a better texture than curled parsley.

Lemon grass is the rising star in the herbal world. Both floral and fragrant, it adds an instant exotic appeal. The outer, tough stalks of lemon grass contain tender inner leaves that are cut into rounds or shredded. Lemon grass has traditionally been used to add a light, rather elusive flavor to Thai and Indonesian foods, but today is showing up in all types of foods, including soups and curries, as well as dishes based on chicken, pork and seafood, particularly crab.

Rosemary, an aromatic evergreen shrub with needle-like leaves, can act as an antioxidant and antimicrobial, and frequently rosemary ingredients are used for shelf life extension. Rosemary sprigs, either fresh or dried, remain intact during cooking, which allows for easy removal or separation, as most consumers prefer to not eat the sharp leaves. Most applications of the whole sprig are in meat, due to rosemary's strong affinity to veal, lamb and chicken. The whole herb flavors oils and sauces, and is often removed before packaging. Rosemary can also be crumbled to top gourmet crackers and breads. Proceed cautiously when flavoring with rosemary, as it is very easy to overdo the gingery, pungent flavor of this herb.

Antimicrobial and antioxidant properties are often due to the composition of certain plants. The active antioxidative compounds in rosemary include carnosol, carnosoic acid and its esters, and lesser amounts of rosmanol, rosmaridiphenol and rosmarinic acid. When added at levels below the flavor threshold, unlikely foods can benefit from the antioxidative properties of this herb. For example, rosemary extract has been used to extend the shelf life of confections and sweet baked goods. It has also been shown to prevent off-flavors and delay color changes in irradiated ground beef.

Dill, another plant with needle-like leaves, is also easy to overdo, however its tender leaves are easier to consume. Some consumers view dill's distinctive, sweet flavor as cooling and refreshing. It is commonly associated with pickles and seafood.

Similar to rosemary, the leaves or sprigs from bay are typically removed from a food after preparation. Somewhat sweet in flavor profile, bay can provide subtle tones to broths, marinades, sauces, soups, stews and stocks. Bay leaves have also been used to flavor custards -- bay infused in boiling milk adds a very complementary, mild flavor. Bay adds a unique flavor profile to sweet dishes made with mild-flavored tree fruits, such as apples, peaches and pears.

Powerfully musky and fragrant, sage complements pork, turkey and game meat. It is the distinctive flavor associated with many pork-sausage products, as well as stuffing mixes.

The green twigs from the sweet herb fennel -- not to be confused with the bulb vegetable fennel -- are used as an herb, whereas the seeds from this plant are a spice. The delicate anise flavor of fennel is closely associated with fish and seafood dishes.

Tarragon also has a slight anise flavor combined with a sweet vanilla profile. It is often used in fish and seafood dishes and is a mainstay in most egg dishes and cream-style sauces and dressings. Dried tarragon takes on a hay-like flavor, but frozen tarragon closely resembles the fresh herb.

Other herbs worth noting include angelica, which is closely associated with rhubarb dishes; chervil, which has a slight anise flavor; lemon balm, which, as its name suggests, possesses a lemon profile that can turn bitter and be somewhat overpowering; and thyme, which has a warm, earthy, flowery taste. There also is savory. Summer savory is pleasantly bitter with a scent similar to thyme -- but subtler -- while winter savory has a stronger earthy profile.

Unlike most herbs, which are primarily used in savory or entrée-type foods, many spices also have application in desserts. For example, cinnamon is used in bakery products, such as raisin bread, as well as in oatmeal and cookies, and dairy-based items, such as ice cream and puddings. However, cinnamon is also associated with savory spiced dishes from all over the Middle East, India and Mexico (where a different type, canela, which is lighter and more floral than cassia cinnamon, is used). Cinnamon has a distinctive, pleasant flavor profile, and when consumers identify it in unusual applications, they find the food quite intriguing and enjoyable. Cinnamon is available ground and in sticks. The latter are curled, thin pieces of the bark. Cassia is preferred in Asia, while Western countries often prefer Ceylon cinnamon, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, for its purer and less harsh taste.

Another spice that has broadened its applications in recent years is vanilla. Once exclusive to the baking and dairy industries, vanilla is becoming the star spice in all types of foods and beverages, both sweet and savory. Vanilla beans vary in flavor and quality by country of origin. Unfortunately, some of the best vanilla comes from Madagascar, a country that continues to get attacked by severe weather, which destroys the vanilla crops. As a result, just as vanilla is entering its height of popularity, prices are at an all-time high.

A spice that complements both cinnamon and vanilla is nutmeg. Myristica fragrans is the plant origin of both nutmeg and mace. Nutmeg is the seed, which has a warm, slightly bitter, aromatic flavor profile that complements both sweet and savory dishes. It is a favorite in ethnic Swedish foods, particularly meatballs and gravies.

Mace is the frond-like outer coating of the plant's seed. It is more delicate in flavor than nutmeg, has an affinity for chicken and shrimp, and is invaluable in specialty sausages, pâtés and terrines. It is also used in a variety of desserts as well as white and cheese-type sauces.

Another spice with both savory and sweet applications is clove. Available in both whole and ground form, the whole version is never consumed, as it is unpleasant to chew. Cloves possess a sweet and warm flavor, with a rather numbing quality that has earned them a medicinal reputation, particularly for toothaches. Whole cloves are usually fixed firmly to a food, such as an onion, for later retrieval, or, as in the case of a whole ham, can be left in and removed by the consumer. Ground cloves are the spicy flavor associated with fall and winter desserts, such as pumpkin pie and gingerbread, as well as cooked apples and mulled wine.

Seeds from an array of plants are classified as spices. Many seeds are used whole in food applications. These include caraway seed, which is closely associated with rye bread, cabbage-based foods and even cheeses; celery seed, with its very bitter flavor, is the finishing touch on a Chicago-style hot dog; dill seed is used in many pickled condiments and foods; and poppy and sesame seeds are both used heavily in and on top of bakery products.

Sesame seeds have a multitude of applications outside of bakery. For example, finely ground sesame seeds are called tahini, which is the oily paste combined with chickpeas to make hummus. Toasted sesame seeds are used to encrust seafood and chicken.

On the root and rhizome side of spices, licorice root has a very strong, pungent, sweet flavor profile that is not universally popular. (It's the flavor of black jelly beans, the ones only a select few individuals enjoy eating.) Ginger, which is actually a rhizome but most people call it a root, is an aromatic spice associated with Asian foods. It is also recognized as having medicinal qualities, particularly for soothing upset stomachs.

A few years ago, ginger would have been described as a rising star in the world of spices. Today, it is the star. Whereas most consumers' idea of Asian food had previously been take-out from the corner Chinese place, today's consumers are aware of the vast array of Asian cuisines, many of which include ginger. Indeed, ginger is used when cooking pork, beef, chicken, duck and a variety of fish and seafood. Slices of ginger can be pickled and served with sushi. The fresh, cooling flavor profile of ginger also provides subtle notes to Indian curries and Jamaican jerk seasonings.

The general term "pepper" comprises two unrelated groups of plants, with both groups yielding hot spices. However, one of the most common spices in the world is pepper from peppercorns. Black, white and green peppercorns are the berries of an evergreen vine (Piper nigrum) and possess a pungent flavor profile.

The other group of peppers, the chiles, is the fruit of Capsicum plants and includes a wide variety of mild to amazingly hot peppers. The heat levels of chile varieties are measured and rated through high-performance liquid chromatography and can range from zero heat units for sweet bell peppers to more than 500,000 heat units for certain types of habeneros. The heat is a function of the capsaicin content.

Other spices worth mentioning include cardamom, which has a warm, aromatic but sharp taste that has an anesthetic effect on the tongue; cumin, which has a powerful, warm, sweet and slightly oily profile and is used throughout the world for its unmistakable flavor; and tamarind, which are the sticky dried pods of the tamarind tree and often are used instead of lemon or lime to add a sweet-and-sour tang to many foods.

The most expensive spice in the world is saffron. Each red-gold shred is a crocus stigma, and each saffron crocus has only three stigmas to be hand-gathered and dried. At several hundred dollars a pound, most food manufacturers opt for turmeric, a less expensive, more abundant yellow-colored substitute. However, those who have experienced pure saffron know there is no replacement.

Allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper, is often confused with a mixture of spices because of its name and because it possesses the flavors of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Allspice, though, comes from Pimento officinalis and is usually sold ground. In whole form, it is a very hard brown berry. Allspice is what gives the distinctive flavor profile to Jamaican jerk seasonings.

With a proper background on the varying qualities of herbs and spices, the next step is proper application to suit today's changing consumer taste trends.

"Some of the tastiest blends meld sweet and spicy flavors," says Wilkerson. "Consumers are looking for full flavors, and food formulators are coming to us with requests for extremes such as tropical fruits with heat."

Geographically named prepared foods, such as Cuban-style sausage or Brazilian salsa, must meet consumers' expectations. Many consumers have traveled to these countries and they have flavor expectations.

"Seasonings not only add flavor, but also functionally, to food systems," says Rauh. "For example, seasoning blends flavor as well as thicken sauces and gravies. Another example is the addition of color to many foods, such as snack foods."

A properly blended mixture can also help extend shelf life and provide other benefits in meat products, according to Wilkerson: "When using spice rubs or sprinkle-on seasonings that contain salt, they reduce the moisture on the surface of the meat and poultry products, which has the effect of inhibiting microbial growth. Proper rub design can have the effect of retaining interior moisture of meat throughout the cooking cycle."

In summary, a working knowledge of herbs, spices and blends can best assist product developers with formulating innovative, flavorful foods. The vast world of herbs and spices is always poised to send up a new star from its varied ranks that will harmonize with the bolder flavors of today's foods -- sometimes in previously unexpected ways.

Donna Berry, president of Chicago-based Dairy & Food Communications, Inc., a network of professionals in business-to-business technical and trade communications, has been writing about product development and marketing for nine years. Prior to that, she worked for Kraft Foods in the natural-cheese division. She has a B.S. in Food Science from the University of Illinois. She can be reached at [email protected]

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