National Herbs and Spices Day 2023: National Herbs and Spices Day is celebrated every year on 10th June. The day aims to spread awareness about the use of spices and herbs in both dry and fresh forms in cuisine. Herbs and spices not only add flavor to our food but they also add color which brings a vibrancy that would otherwise be missed. Apart from this, they also increase the nutritional value of our food as they contain nutrients. Since they are essential cooking ingredients, it is only natural that they are honored on this day for their contribution to the culinary journey of humanity. Although this day was started in America, but now people have started observing it globally.
History of National Herb and Spice Day
National Herbs and Spices Day is being celebrated since 2015. Before the words national and spice were added in 2015, the earliest reference to the day was Herbs Day, which was established in 1999.
Importance of celebrating National Herbs and Spices Day
For centuries, people have been using spices and herbs to enhance the taste of their food. Some early theories speculated that hunters would wrap their meat in leaves and they would coincidentally find that the leaves added a distinct flavor to the meat.
Over time, more aromatic and fragrant plants were discovered with some additional characteristics beneficial to health. It is believed that spices were discovered when the roots, leaves or other parts of plants were dried and used in cooking.
Spices and herbs have also been used medicinally throughout human history.
Spices have always been considered a precious commodity, and in some cases, they have even been used as currency. The value of nutmeg was once more than its weight in gold. Dockworkers in London were often rewarded with cloves as a bonus. In the conquest of Rome in 410 AD, black pepper was demanded as ransom.
