Generally, we refer herbs as the fresh green leafy part of the plant whereas spices as the dried form. Spices can be the buds (cloves), roots (ginger), bark (cinnamon), berries (peppercorns), aromatic seeds (cumin) or the stigma of a flower (saffron).
For instance, we refer to the leaves of the coriander as the herb while the dried seeds as the spice.
Not all spices are hot. Sometimes, we hear of people who say that they don't like spicy food. Yet, what they are actually referring to is that they do not like food that is too hot. Have you heard of people complaining of spicy vanilla ice cream or cinnamon buns? Not that I know of.
On other hand, the spices in spice came from pepper, chilies and ginger etc. I am one who cannot live without chilies in my meal. I love cut red chilli or chilli padi (smaller size red chilli that is thousand times spicer than the red chilli). My favourite prawn noodle soup would not been nice if they did not add peppercorns to the soup base.
The taking in of spices is an acquired taste. However, once we are used to spices, it actually becomes an addiction. We could not live without spices in our diet. The taste of our favourite dishes would be so very different if herbs and spices are not added in.
Do you like herbs and spices in your food?
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