The Benefits of Using Organic Spices

With the high environmental, social and economic costs of corporate agriculture, more and more people are realizing that choosing organic is good not only for their health, but for the world in general – and that includes organic spices. Bulk organic herbs can be used in both the kitchen as well as to stock the medicine cabinet. Organic bulk herbs are an excellent way to add flavor to food, but have many other uses as well.

Spice History

The use of dried herbs in the preparation of food goes back a long way in history. Perhaps the earliest bulk herbs to be traded as commodities were cloves, cinnamon and pepper, all of which have been used in the Middle East for over 3,000 years. In the Old Testament, the collection of ancient Hebrew wedding songs known as the Song of Solomon contains passages in which the bridegroom compares his bride with various spices, indicating that such dried herbs were available – if not common.

Another noteworthy botanical among organic spices that has been used since ancient times is horseradish, which has been used in the Passover Seder since at least 1500 BCE; the powerful, sinus-blasting wasabi variety has been a stable of Japanese cuisine since the days of the shoguns.

In Europe, the earliest mention of spices is found in the 1st Century writings of Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder, who refers to cloves. During medieval times, such bulk herbs were literally worth their weight in gold. Contrary to popular belief, organic spices were not used by medieval chefs to disguise the taste of rotten meat. Because of their extravagant cost, using precious bulk herbs in such a fashion would have been seen as tremendously wasteful. However, many dried herbs that were used as spice could also be used to preserve meat and fish in the days before refrigeration.

New World Spices

When European explorers discovered the Americas, they also discovered a plethora of new organic spices that had hitherto been unknown. The best-known of these are of the chili pepper family, which was used by native peoples of Mexico and Mesoamerica for centuries. Chili peppers have found their way into cuisines from Africa and the Mediterranean to east Asia and Japan.

Organic Spices Today

Organic Spices in the form of bulk organic herbs are no longer ruinously expensive as they were as little as 500 years ago. The main reason is that organic bulk herbs that in olden days might have been found in only one or two places in the world are now grown virtually all over the world.

That said, you can expect to pay somewhat more for bulk organic herbs, mainly because they such are grown locally by small, independent farmers in relatively small quantities, and thus are less abundant. When you consider the flavor and health benefits of organic bulk herbs however, organic spices are still a bargain.

Responses for Canned Chicken

Not long ago I wrote an article on canning chicken breast and received a number of responses to the material from people that had tried them. In this article I will address several of the items as they were mentioned to me.

As I had previously explained canning boneless chicken breast is a really simple and easy process. Not often does a person find an easy food storage preparation that actually tastes good when it is eaten. Most of the time the meat will be moist and flaky and falls apart easily while the flavor is on a similar basis as found with fresh cooked chicken meat.

You can the chicken breasts two chunks to a jar with or without liquid added and just a touch of salt. These raw packed chicken breasts are so easy that they represent an excellent method by which beginners can learn the basics of meat canning. It’s not unusual for bone in chicken to generate more natural juices then you would find with the boneless versions.

Most people’s original thoughts are that the chicken will be overly tough but are pleasantly surprised to find out how tender it actually is. Most first time canners proclaim that their first reaction is to make meal after meal with their newly canned product. To make the best canned chicken that you can, you must shop for the better brand of poultry. A good choice would be Perdue’s all natural chicken products.

Canning just about any type of meat is a straightforward process and the final results usually end up with tender meats whether it is chicken breast, thighs or turkey. I often use chicken thighs as well as the breasts for canning and I have noticed no difference in the tenderness of the meat. I have heard of people using their steam juicer to provide some tasty juice to the thighs than allowing them to cool properly to room temperatures prior to removing the skin and bones. At the same tome they will let the juice cool down so they can skim the fat from it. By adding just a bit of this juice to the canned chicken the flavor is greatly improved. One can always save the rest of the stock for another meal by canning it in smaller pint jars.

Occasionally you will experience liquid loss as you prepared your canned chicken and this is a natural event. I often see water loss in a lot of my canned jars particularly when the processing has been extended to a long period of time. What this amounts to is nothing more then the steam within the jar escaping through the lid. To counteract this make sure you tighten the lids on the jars well but never over tighten them if you plan on having a long processing time. Over tightening jar lids can present a dangerous situation and should generally be avoided as it will tend to buckle the lids.

I could go on and on concerning the virtues of canning foods and in particular of meats but we would quickly run out of space and time. If this appears to be an area of interest for you I would suggest consulting your local agricultural extension department in your state. They can provide you with loads of hints and interesting methods to use.