Flavor Chemistry of Herbs and Spices

All herb and spice flavors are plant defense chemicals — evolved to repel insects, fungi, and grazing animals. Humans learned to dilute them (a few milligrams in a pound of food) to convert weapons into pleasures. The science of these chemicals explains why some flavors vanish with cooking while others persist, why fat extracts more flavor than water, and why a spice blend can be greater than the sum of its parts.