Spices

Welcome to the Abilene Public Library’s Virtual Classroom. This space will offer a new place for youth, teens, and adults to learn more about a variety of topics, with new content added regularly.

For each class, we'll share background information, educational videos, lesson plans, resources available for continued learning and more. Plus, we’ll offer a link to a test we’d appreciate if you completed to show what you learned!




List of culinary herbs and spices
	This video provides an engaging video on the short history of spices.
It's Okay To Be Smart PBS People who live near the equator use more spices per recipe than people who live far from the equator. But that isn't for the reason you think. Spices and other plant ingredients have special powers that make them a truly magical superfood!
	This is an interesting video regarding the most expensive spice, saffron. Imagine using flower stamen as a currency!

Resources
Lesson Plans
Test Your Knowledge of Spices




Pallotta, J., & Evans, L. (1994). The spice alphabet book: Herbs, spices, and other natural flavors. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Pub. Welcome to a delectable alphabet adventure. While on your way to "Z is for Zatar," relish the savory Mustard, the aromatic Spearmint, and the spicy Wasabi. You'll also want to try the Kola, the Vanilla, and especially the Xocoatl! Mouth-watering illustrations and informative, child-appealing text makes this a delicious treat for hungry readers.
	Green, A. (2016). The magic of spice blends: A guide to the art, science, and lore of combining flavors. A pinch of this and a dash of that, and you'll be creating distinctive and delectable flavors in every dish Today, more than ever, we have access to almost every spice and herb imaginable. But it's the careful blending of herbs and spices that is the true art of the spice handler. The Magic of Spice Blends reveals the secrets of creating and cooking with the world's classic spice blends from seven regions: Africa, the Far East, Europe, India, the Middle East, North America and the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America. Chef Aliza Green guides you through the principles of choosing, working with, and blending spices. Join the fun of creating personalized spice and herb blends and knowing just what goes into them--no ancient, bitter, musty dust here Find resources on where to purchase great quality herds and spices, even organic, non-irradiated. You can even grow your own and use them to make those wonderful spice blends. Along with background information on the history, culture, and culinary uses of each blend.
Bevill, A., & Hearne, J. K. (2014). World spice at home: New flavors for 75 favorite dishes. World Spice at Home brings the world's exotic spices to your home kitchen to breathe new life into favorite, familiar, and traditional dishes with wonderful new flavors. Transform a grilled ribeye steak using an Arabic baharat spice blend; add drama to your carrot cake using Kashmiri garam masala. Spices add gratifying dimension to foods, and while the spice blends come from around the world, these recipes are friendly and familiar.
	Ortiz, E. L. (1992). The encyclopedia of herbs, spices & flavorings. New York: Dorling Kindersley. An illustrated sourcebook to these all-important cooking ingredients includes information on more than two hundred herbs, spices, essences, edible flowers and leaves, aromatics, vinegars, oils, teas, and coffees.

References

Wikipedia contributors. (2021, May 20). List of culinary herbs
and spices. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved
21:27, July 29, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_culinary_herbs_and_spices&oldid=1024217119

"File:Spice Market, Marakech (2242330035).jpg." Wikimedia
Commons, the free media repository. 27 Jul 2021, 08:01 UTC.
29 Jul 2021, 21:46 <https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Spice_Market,_Marakech_(2242330035).jpg&oldid=
577076862>.

Atlas Pro Geography of Spices and Herbs Jan 4, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1mMgwp7iaE

The Surprising Reason We Eat Spicy Food https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sziIUZgdgk Jul 10, 2018

What Is This The Most Expensive Spice In The World? The Spice Trail | Absolute History Jun 12, 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJxsY5g2g7Q

Lesson Plans


National Agriculture in the classroom https://agclassroom.org/matrix/lesson/114/ For grades 9-12 In this lesson students will recognize the difference between a spice and herb, learn how herbs and spices are grown on farms around the world, and participate in a culinary challenge to season popcorn for various cultural cuisines. Sources https://www.history.com/news/off-the-spice-rack-the-story-of-pepper http://www.spicesinc.com/p-51-ground-nutmeg.aspx https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/12/26/572100613/americans-love-spices-so-why-don-t-we-grow-them Acknowledgement : The original Spice it Up lesson was written by Florida Agriculture in the Classroom. The lesson was updated and re-written with permission in 2019 by the National Center for Agricultural Literacy. Author : Andrea Gardner Organization Affiliation : National Center for Agricultural Literacy and Florida Agriculture in the Classroom	Common core connections Anchor Standards: Speaking and Listening CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. Anchor Standards: Writing CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
Scholastic Lesson Plan For grades PreK-K Objective: Children will learn about and compare different types of spices to develop sensory and cultural awareness.	https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/activity-plan-4-5-spice-it/
Kids Cooking Activities https://www.kids-cooking-activities.com/cooking-with-herbs-and-spices.html	Cooking with herbs and spices is what gives food flavor and makes it taste great. Have you ever tasted something that really didn't taste good? Chances are it lacked seasoning, it had a mix of spices that didn't go well or it had too much seasoning. This online cooking lesson will have you cooking a vegetable soup to experiment with seasonings and try several different methods of adding flavor to food including dry rubs, marinades and more.

Spices

Contact Us

Quick Links

Helpful Links