Local Spices: For Taste, Flavour and Good Health

Am sure you may know of have heard of the word 'spices', we probably do encounter them in our meals and sometimes you may be unable to identify them☺. In this post, i would be sharing with you everything you need to know about spices and how you can easily identify them in meals.

What Are Spice?

Let us begin by really understanding what 'Spices' are. Spices are said to be plant derived substances that are added to dishes to make it tasty and delicious. At times, spices are included in meals for health purposes. They are used for their medicinal value as they prov8de numerous health benefits including antioxidation and enhancing the immune system.

There are over a hundred types of spices available around the globe but some of the most common ones include; Onions, Ginger, Garlic, Tumeric, Blackpepper, African Basil popularly known as scent leaf, etc.

What Are The Local Names Of Spice?

We all have names we give to every object in our local dialects not so? Well spices are no exceptions. They also have local names given to them.

For example,a tribe in Nigeria calls Onions 'Ayém' and that is the Ibibio tribe. Other spices like Ginger is called 'Citta' by the Hausa tribe in Nigeria. Some times, other spices are given a local name in English. Spices like African Basil which is popularly called Scent Leaf in most regions in Nigeria due to its strong scent. In Hausa, Scent Leaf is called 'Daddoya'. They also call Garlic 'Tafarnuwa'.

The Igbos Call West African black pepper 'Uziza', the Ibibios call it 'Eduza', the Yorubas call it 'Iyere', the Efik call it 'Eti-nkeni'. It is known for give dish a very pleasant taste especially soups.

Another ver common spices in Nigeria is the Aligator pepper otherwise called Grains of Paradise. It is called 'Oburo' in Yoruba and 'Ibok-ntuen' in Efik. The seeds of this pepper are usually grinded and added to dishes like sou0s, stew to give it a pepperish taste.

Another common spice is Tumeric which is widely known for it medicinal valu3values and its ability to colour foods especially rice. Personally, most times, I use Tumeric to make tea because of the nice scent it produces and the taste. It has numerous healths benefits and is very beneficial for th9se with high blood pressure.

From all these spices available, the one i really love is the Aligator Pepper. I include it in mostly all my meals especially soup. It gives my dishes the desired tastes. I got to know about this spice from my mom, she used it frequently in all her meals. I didn't always know the benefits and i thought it was useless until recently when i started cooking my meals myself. It greatly improved my culinary skills and seems to be my secret ingredients in making delicious meals. I use it especially when i want to cook peppersoup. I usually add a lot of Ginger and Garlic to the Aligator pepper to have a better result.

There are no standard measurement on the usage of spices for me. I use my own discretion when adding them to meals. Most times i use a handful depending on the quality of the meal being prepared.

There are certain spices that have numerous health benefits like the Tumeric mentioned earlier. Scent leaf is also known for it ability to seal up wounds and prevent them from getting infected. Aligator pepper is widely romoured to heal stomach ulcer and i think th8s is true even if i am yet to verify. Different spices have their different health benefits.

Remember that spices are plant derived substances and most drugs are gotten from drugs, it is not unreasonable to conclude that most if not all available spices have their own specific health importance. They have some work they perform in our body each time we consume them.

I would advise that you my reader try out using spices like Aligator pepper and Scent leaf in your meals and see how the taste of your meals would greatly improve!

If you'l love to know about more local spices you can use in your meals, just drop a comment under this post and i would reply asap.