Top 10 spices facts

Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of the saffron crocus. It takes about 150 000 of flowers to harvest 1 kg of stigmas used as spice.

Nowhere. The saffron crocus is a triploid that is incapable of independent sexual reproduction — all propagation is via manual "divide-and-set" of a starter clone. It may have emerged via plant breeding in late Bronze-Age Crete.

Mexico. With a population of roughly two million, the state of Tabasco is home to many ancient Mayan artifacts.

Anise. The Badian (llicium verum) is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to northeast Vietnam and southwest China. A spice commonly called star anise, staranise, star anise seed, Chinese star anise, or badian that closely resembles anise in flavor is obtained from the star-shaped pericarps of the fruit of I. verum which are harvested just before ripening.

Bark. Cinnamon bark is employed in cookery as a condiment and flavoring material. It is used in the preparation of chocolate, especially in Mexico, which is the main importer of true cinnamon.

Surname of the inventor of the spice. Maggi is an international brand of spices, instant soups and pasta, which were created in Switzerland at the end of the 19th century. The company was founded in Switzerland in 1884, when Julius Maggi took over the father's mill and developed a unique recipe for these spices. Maggi was acquired by Nestlé in 1947.

Orchidaceae. Vanilla, the vanilla orchids, forms a flowering plant genus of about 110 species in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). The most widely known member is the flat-leaved vanilla, native to Mexico, from which commercial vanilla flavoring is derived. It is the only orchid widely used for industrial purposes in flavoring such products as foods, beverages and cosmetics, and is recognized as the most popular aroma and flavor.

Plants. Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is an annual plant in the family Fabaceae, with leaves consisting of three small obovate to oblong leaflets. It is cultivated worldwide as a semiarid crop. Its seeds and leaves are common ingredients in dishes from South and Central Asia.

Ferula is a genus of about 170 species of flowering plants. Asafoetida, the dried latex from the rhizome of Ferula it is also known as food of the gods or devil's dung. The ferula also shows up in mythological contexts; Prometheus smuggled fire to humanity by hiding it in a ferula as well. In the Middle East, the common name "Lebanese Viagra" refers to the traditional use of the roots of this plant as an alleged aphrodisiac.

Etlingera is a genus of Indo-Pacific terrestrial and perennial herbs in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae consisting of more than 100 species found in tropical regions of the Old World. Some of the larger species have leafy shoots reaching almost 10 metres high, and the bases of these shoots are so stout as to seem almost woody. Others of the species grow as clumps of leafy shoots; while others have such long creeping Rhizomes that each of their leafy shoots can be more than a metre apart.