Maltese SPICES and HERBS

 

Traditional Maltese 

Spices and Herbs

When it comes to distinguishing herbs from spices we tend to confuse which is which. Indeed, while both spices and herbs are derived from plants, each of the two is distinguishable in various ways by many.

Some maintain that herbs are normally derived from the fleshy green parts of plants, while spices are derived from the roots, stalk, bark, seeds or fruit, very often dried up. But this is just a broad definition; there are instances when this is not the case.

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Others have defined herbs and spices somewhat differently. For instance for some, herbs are those plants that contain a moderately strong pleasant scent. Spices would include those dried pieces of plants that contain oils or that produce a distinct sharp flavour.

Some plants may actually be termed both as a spice as well as a herb. Take for instance, the fennel plant. This plant has its green leaves harvested and served as an aromatic herb. The Italians love to consume the leaves raw or else savoured as a condiment with a pasta dish such as penne with cream. Once the plant dries up in the summer months, its seeds can be flicked off from its dry twigs and collected to be used for seasoning on a variety of foods such as roast potatoes, fish and meat dishes. From such seeds are used as herbal infusions as a kind of tea – note that the term here is not a spicy infusion but herbal.

Others have provided other definitions to distinguish spices from herbs. For instance, in his book Dangerous Tastes, Andrew Dalby refers to spices as those dried plants that are preserved and traded across geographical distances. On the other hand, he states that herbs are those aromatic plants that are grown by gardeners. Such definition may have taken root (pun not intended) by historians when discussing medieval trade across continents, or else, by novelists who conjured romantic images of commercial desert caravans and maritime journeys undertaken throughout history. So the definition of both herbs and spices may cling, after all, to semantic rather than to a scientific fact.

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Spices have also been traditionally used to maintain the longevity of certain foods which would otherwise rot or else become bland and inedible by time. Sure enough, certain foods, such as meats when cured or sun-dried for months require spices to help them achieve a longer shelf life.

Whilst herbs have been traditionally regarded as condiments that go with daily food, often consumed by the poor, spices have been regarded as a commodity that enriched meals served on the tables of the more opulent. This has always been true of those spices that originated in faraway countries and whose price was therefore, prohibitive. Rarity and their exotic taste made spices fetch a better price.

One must also not forget that both herbs and spices were – and still are – used in medicine as ‘herbal’ remedies. The Maltese term spiżjar indeed comes from speziale, one who dealt in spezie, that is, spices, up to not so ancient times, a product that today is regarded as folk medicine.

The following aromatic herbs and spices are mentioned by D. Miège in his book L’Histoire de Malte (1841) as growing wild or else cultivated then. Miège was quoting the works of the Maltese doctor and naturalist Dr. Stefano Zerafa, Floree Melitensis Thesaurus, which had been compiled between 1827 – 1831:

– caper bush – cloves – coriander – sweet and chili peppers – black garlic / broad leaved leek – anise – wild leek – melissa – rosemary – lavander – sweet marjoram – black mustard – mint – bay laurel – myrtle – parsley – vanilla.

Hereunder are two lists, one of herbs, the other of spices and their usage. Both types of plants or their parts have been traditionally harvested by the Maltese for ages. Some of these grow locally in the wild and therefore have been consumed for hundreds of years. This is evinced by their semitic name. The more recent plants, that were or are still consumed and have an Italian or English sounding term are often imported.

HERBS

Name in English	Name in Maltese	Uses in cooking or seasoning	Medical uses	Availability
Fennel   Sc. n. Anaethum foeniculum	Bużbież	Meat – fish – roast or boiled potatoes	Good for stomach ailments	Grows in the wild
Basil   Sc. n. Ocimum basilicum	Ħabaq	Fish and meat dishes		Cultivated locally
Bay leaves   Sc. n. Laurus nobilis	Rand	Sauces such as one that goes with rabbit dish		Cultivated in Malta
Camomile   Sc. n.  Matricaria recutita	Kamumilla		Stomach ailments mental relaxation. Tea infusion	Grows in the wild
Capers   Sc. n. Capparis spinosa	Kappar	Fish dishes and bread and bread sanwiches or ftira with tomato paste		Grows in the wild
Chives   Sc. n. Allium schoenoprasum	Kurrat irqieq	Popular with salads		Cultivated locally
Garlic   Sc. N. Allium	Tewm	Fried rabbit dish pasta and bruschetta	Good for healthy intestines	Cultivated locally
Onion   Sc. n. Allium cepa	Basla	Fried or boiled with all sorts of food and sometimes eaten raw		Cultivated locally
Mint   Sc. n. mentha	Nagħniegħ	Very popular with fish dishes and bread snacks, lamb.		Cultivated locally
Parsley   Sc. n. Petroselinum crispum	Tursin	Very popular with all dishes particularly fish dishes		Cultivated locally
Rosemary   Sc. n. Rosmarinus officinalis	Klin	Many dishes amongst which chicken red neat and fish		Cultivated locally
Sage   Sc. n.  Salvia officinalis	Salvja	Meat dishes		Cultivated locally
Sweet marjoram   Sc. n.  Origanum majorana	Merdqtux	Good for meat and fish dishes		Cultivated locally
Wild leek   Sc. n. Allium porrum	Kurrat	Same like onions		Grows in the wild but also cultivated locally

SPICES

Anise   Sc. n. Pimpinella anisum	Ħlewwa	Mixed with sweet dough rings (qagħaq)		Used to grow  in the wild – now imported
Cinnamon	Kannella	Apple pie Christmas cake		Imported
Cloves   Sc. n. Syzygium aromaticum	Msiemer tal-qronfol	Very popular with foods and as tea infusion	Tooth aches and digestion	Imported
Coriander   Sc. n. Coriandrum sativum	Kosbor	To spice Maltese sausage		Used to grow in Malta – now imported
Curry (mixture of spices e.g. tumeric	Trab tal-kari	Very popular to spice various sauces		Imported
Fennel seed    Sc. n. Anaethum foeniculum	Bużbież	Used with food of all sorts, such as meats and fish dishes and roast potatoes	Relieves stomach indigestion	Grows in the wild
Black mustard   Sc. n. Sinapis nigra	Mustarda	Meat dishes		Imported
Lavander   Sc. n. Lavandula angustifolia	Sombor		Very popular essential oils for relaxation	Used to grow in Malta – now imported
Peprin   Sc. n. Papaverum dubium	Żerriegħa tal-peprin	Boiled or roast potatoes		Grows in the wild – but is imported for use.
Sesame   Sc. n. Sesamum indicum	Ġunġlien	Used as condiment with bread-like soft cake (qagħaq)		Imported   Imported
Sweet chilly peppers   Sc. n. Capsicum annuum	Bżar aħmar	Used to spice all sorts of food		Is grown locally
Wild Thyme   Sc. n. Thymus capitatus	Sagħtar	Chicken dishes	Antiseptic	Grows wild locally

Martin Morana

27.11.2020

Bibliography

Dalby Andrew, Dangerous Tastes – The Story of Spices. The British Museum Press. 2000.

Gambin Kenneth & Buttigieg Noel, L-Istorja tal-Kultura tal-Ikel f’Malta. PIN 2003.

Lanfranco Guido, Ħxejjex Mediċinali u Oħrajn fil-Gżejjer Maltin. Media Centre. 2000.

Miège Dominique, Histoire de Malte, Gregoire V. Wouters et Co., Brusselle 1841.

Tedesco Carmen, Ħxejjex Aromatiċi u Ħwawar. (leaflet).

Thanks to Joseph Aquilina and Terry Morana.

 

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