Bumbu is the Indonesian word for a blend of spices and for pastes and it commonly appears in the names of spice mixtures, sauces and seasoning pastes. The official Indonesian language dictionary describes bumbu as "various types of herbs and plants that have a pleasant aroma and flavour — such as ginger, turmeric, galangal, nutmeg and pepper — used to enhance the flavour of the food."
Multiple spices are traditionally stone-ground to create a bumbu.
Indonesian dishes such as Balinese nasi campur are rich with bumbu (herbs, spices, and seasoning)
Various Indonesian spices
Various Indonesian spices sold in traditional marketplace
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices are sometimes used in medicine, religious rituals, cosmetics, or perfume production. They are usually classified into spices, spice seeds, and herbal categories.For example, vanilla is commonly used as an ingredient in fragrance manufacturing. Plant-based sweeteners such as sugar are not considered spices.
Spices at a central market in Agadir, Morocco
A group of Indian herbs and spices in bowls
Spices of Saúde flea market, São Paulo, Brazil
"The Mullus" harvesting pepper. Illustration from a French edition of The Travels of Marco Polo.