Essential Culinary Herbs
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s any good cook knows, herbs are often the essential ingredients that coax the finest flavors out of any meal. In most cases, fresher is better, and even the smallest garden can provide a selection of pot-to-pan varieties. Here is a short list of must-haves.
Basil, Sweet (Ocimum basilicum) Basil comes in several varieties, but sweet basil is the most common. The leaf tastes sweet and spicy, overlaid with a clove-like perfume, and is used most often with tomato dishes, pizzas, salads and vegetables, often in combination with garlic. Fresh is far superior to dried. The sweet basil plants vary in size, as well as leaf size and color. Many cooks like to grow green-leafed and red-leafed basil side-by-side.
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Bay (Laurus nobilis) This aromatic herb is widely used to flavor fish, stew, rice, stuffing, curry and soup. It also is a favorite among those on low-salt diets. Bay is most often used as whole, dried leaves that are removed before dishes are served. The leaves are shiny and dark green. This evergreen shrub can grow to the height of a tree in semi-tropical climates, but most northern gardeners grow bay in pots that they bring indoors in winter. Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) Chives can be used fresh, frozen and freeze-dried, but fresh chives have the best flavor. Use snipped, chopped chives anytime you want to add the taste of onion in a milder form. When cooking, add fresh or freeze-dried chives at the end to preserve the flavor. Bright, dark-green chives grow in clumps and have slender, grass-like leaves. They produce purple, lavender or pink globe-shaped flowers. Cilantro/Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) Cilantro is the leaf of the coriander plant. It is best used fresh, and people either love or hate its citrusy-peppery flavor. Cilantro goes well in tacos, soups, stews,
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chicken dishes, rice, salads and tomato dishes and sauces. Leaves or whole plants are harvested young, because they lose their flavor when the plants grow tall and bloom. Cilantro produces small, white flower clusters. Fertilized flowers eventually mature into nutty coriander seeds. Dill (Anethum graveolens) Dill has a bright, grassy flavor with a savory bite. Young leaves offer a light version with a faint undertone of licorice, with dill seeds carrying a stronger flavor punch. Leaves taste best fresh, but seeds are fine when dried. Dill adds to soups, omelets, seafood dishes, potato salads, dips, breads and pickles. The dill plant grows light green, threadlike leaves and parasol-like clusters of small, yellow flowers. Fertilized flowers mature into dill seeds. Lemon Verbena (Aloysia triphylla) Lemon verbena’s lemony taste is not bitter, and can be cooked without losing its flavor. For low-salt diets, it serves as a welcome flavoring substitute, often used in fruit salads, candies, jams and jellies, vegetable salads and dishes, stuffing and cottage cheese; it goes well with meat and poultry. Lemon verbena also makes a delicious tea. In northern winters, the semi-tropical plant must be brought indoors to keep it alive. Marjoram (Origanum majorana) Marjoram—also known as sweet, knotted, pot or winter marjoram—is a mild, sweet-flavored herb that tastes like a lighter, sweeter version of oregano. It can be used fresh or dried, with the whole dried leaves offering much better flavor than the ground version. Fresh marjoram leaves are excellent with potato, pasta or chopped salads; they work well with pork and veal and in stuffing for poultry. Marjoram’s small, oval, slightly furry leaves are light green on top and gray-