Eating food without herbs or spices makes them bland and may make it seem tasteless for a majority of the public. Herbs and spices add flavor to your food and make it appetizing.
The history of herbs and spices is quite ancient and it is generally agreed that the cultivation of herbs started from China, Middle East and Mediterranean countries and spices came from the region of India, Afghanistan and African countries.
Herbs have sweet scents and since the olden days, have been used in a variety of ways. They have been used as flavor enhancers to cooked food, as medicines to cure diseases and sickness and sometimes in witchcraft as protection. Herbs can be used in the form of edible medicines, pastes or powders. The different schools of medicine including Homeopathy, Ayurveda and Organic all make use of the herbs in their varying forms. Fresh Basil, fresh parsley, fresh coriander leaves, fennel, mint, chives, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, dill are some of the commonly used herbs.
Spices are aromatic dry plants. There was a time in Britain that due to the shortage of peppercorns, they were even used as currency. Spices add flavor to the food and also help to preserve it. Some of the common spices include Ajwain seeds, cumin seeds, star anise, black pepper, cardamom, celery seeds, chili pepper, cinnamon, fenugreek, galangal, garlic, ginger, horseradish, mustard, mace, onion, paprika, sumac, tamarind, turmeric etc
Herbs and Spices are delicate leaves and each one has a particular smell and to save that aroma, the right procedure is required.
There are basically two ways to store them – by drying or freezing. However, not all the herbs can be dried or frozen.
Drying: - Herbs have lot of moisture content present in them. You can dry them under the sun for a day or two. All you need to do is hang the bunch of herbs somewhere and then separate the leaves when the bunch is dried.
In winter as there is less sunlight, you can dry the leaves in an oven under very low heat. This process can take an hour. One can also use the microwave and heat them for 2-3 min. But never forget the original sunlight method is the best and gives the finest results. Once they are dry, store the dried herbs and spices in air tight containers and label them properly.
Freezing: - Most of the herbs can be frozen to be used in cooking and other things later and they can be preserved for months. You can put them in freezing bags .If the leaves are long, put a sheet of freezing wrap in each layer or just add a little bit of oil in between the layers. You can also chop the herbs before freezing. The only thing that should be taken care of is that they should not get freezer burnt, so always put them in freezing bags. When you want to use them for cooking, just take them out a few hours before to defrost them. Avoid using the frozen herbs for garnishing.
Catherine Jones writes for 
