Welcome to the Celtnet Spice Guide. As this site has grown and many more recipes have been added it's become evident that a guide to the various herbs available to the cook is necessary. With spices becoming more commonly available and more exotic spices becoming available from all over the world it has become evident that some kind of guide or introduction to spices is necessary. These pages are an attempt at bringing all the various culinary spices together into one place so that you can see what's available and perhaps find something new to use in your own cooking. To use this Spice Guide simply click on the first letter of the herb name above or below. Alternativey why not just browse through the guide. All the spices given here, whether common or rare, can be obtained via your local supermarket (or more often via your local Asian supermarket) or via a specialist spice distributor.

This is the description page for Lovage Seeds (Levisticum officinale) and includes a description as well as an image, if available and a selection of recipes from this site that relates to the herb: Lovage Seeds.

Lovage, Levisticum officinale is an herbaceous perennial of the Apiaceae (carrot) family. It grows to about 1.8m tall and recalls celery in both its appearance and flavour. It is a wildlife attractant in the garden and is a good companion plant.

All parts of the plant are edible and the leaves and stems may be used as a savoury flavouring in salads, soups, stews etc and impart a yeasty celery-like flavour. Young stems can also be blanched and used as celery. The seeds can be used as a spice and have a strong yeasty flavour. In Central Europe they are often used as a flavouring in cakes, soups and salads. The root, when cooked, has a strong savoury taste and it can either be used as a flavouring or can be served as a vegetable. A tea can also be made from the leaves, though this has a strong flavour that is more like a broth than a tea. Lovage tea is often applied to wounds as an antisceptic.

The Romans were particularly fond of lovage seeds as a spice and you will find many references to lovage levisticum in Latin in Apicius' De Re Coquinaria, the classic Roman cookbook. Lovage seeds are also used in the cuisine of Bangladesh.

Lovage seeds smell distinctly of hay and have a strong, bitter and warm flavour, not unlike that of a celery stalk.

There seems to be considerable confusion between Ajwain (Bishop's Weed) and Lovage Seeds and I have seen several references in Indian recipes and Spice pages that equate Ajwain seeds with Lovage seeds. They are separate species and distinct spices, though, they are closely related and the seeds look similar (but lovage is more closely related to celery). To confuse matters even more, the seeds sold as 'celery seeds' in spice stores are actually, more often than not, lovage seeds.