Spices are pungent or aromatic seasonings obtained from the bark, buds, fruit, roots" seeds or stems of various plants and trees.
 
Spices have very ancient roots, used for thousands of years throughout Asia, Middle East and Mediterranean region .

Once valued as highly as gold, the quest for spices has had major historical impacts - countries went to war to win control over their production, explorers set out to discover new passages to the East, often paving the way to unexpected places (like the Americas!) in the process.