Marsh’s Top 4 Spices
My heritage is steeped in the rich fragrant aromas of Indian cooking. The ancient blend of spices is a part of my cultural history. My great grandparents migrated from colonized India to South Africa in the 1860s as indentured laborers to work on the sugarcane estates of KwaZulu Natal.
The use of spices to preserve and season food was a skill set my sisters and I learned when we were knee-high hovering around in my mother’s bustling kitchen. These cooking techniques were layered and interwoven to form the basis of intricate flavorful dishes. Some of my childhood recipes evolved as I traveled and worked in different geographic areas to adapt to locally sourced ingredients.
These 4 (usually easy to find) ingredients are the mainstay of my recipes and are said to hold some preventative and restorative health properties.
Turmeric: Contains the active ingredient curcumin documented to improve heart health. It also contains anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties said to improve joint health (1)
Ginger: Great for ingestion, antiseptic(mouth, cuts), decreases nausea, lowers blood sugar levels (1)
Garlic: Boosts immunity, decreases blood pressure and cholesterol. Research indicates: that “consuming a half to one clove of garlic (or equivalent) daily may have a cholesterol-lowering effect of up to 9%” (2)
Cinnamon: Holds antiviral and antifungal properties, decreases blood sugar levels and improves gut health.
I had the recent honor of speaking to the members of Woman of Wellness of NWTN at Amy Carroll Training. We had a live cooking demo preparing some plant-based dishes. Thank you Cynthia Morris for inviting me to share my love of spices. If you are interested in learning about how spices are used contact me at marsh@teletherapyservices.net
Sources:
1)Rastogi S, Pandey MM, Rawat AKS. Spices: Therapeutic Potential in Cardiovascular Health. Curr Pharm Des. 2017;23(7):989-998. doi: 10.2174/1381612822666161021160009. PMID: 27774899.
2) Tapsell LC, Hemphill I, Cobiac L, Patch CS, Sullivan DR, Fenech M, Roodenrys S, Keogh JB, Clifton PM, Williams PG, Fazio VA, Inge KE. Health benefits of herbs and spices: the past, the present, the future. Med J Aust. 2006 Aug 21;185(S4):S1-S24. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00548.x. PMID: 17022438.