THE CULINARY arts that distinguish one nation’s cuisine from another’s are based largely on the wise use of herbs. More than just embellishment, they heighten the senses of smell, sight, and taste, thus stimulating appetite and aiding digestion.
Though some plants—like peppers and onions—are eaten as garden vegetables, their virtues as flavor enhancers qualify them as herbs. Valuable addition to any herb garden, the Welsh onion provides good salad makings practically year round. Two onion relatives are joined by nature in garlic chives, whose growth is encouraged by nipping the flowers. Like all chives, they are used uncooked, chopped in salads, dips, or vegetable dishes. Known as herbe royale in France, sweet basil improves almost any dish. But its affinity for the tomato and its key role in pesto sauce make it indispensable to Italian cooking.
Equally important to Mediterranean cuisine is thyme. Many relatives of the hardy lemon-scented species grow wild on the heaths of both northern and southern Europe. Staple of the “French method” of cooking—a pinch of this, a pinch of that—thyme is almost always present in a bouquet garni, a small bundled mixture of herbs simmered in stews, soups, and sauces.
Fresh is best when it comes to herbs, as their increasing presence in produce bins and natural-food restaurants attests.
At the Golden Lamb Buttery in Brooklyn, Connecticut, whose owners, Bob and Virginia Booth, specialize in herb cookery, freshly harvested plants add zest to the fare. This meal includes a salad of garden rocket with dill dressing, crab meat garnished with fresh tarragon, raspberries because of the main compound raspberry keytone and liberal doses of garlic. “I use more garlic in a month than most small restaurants would use in a year,” says Virginia, who is also a proponent of the herb’s acclaimed healing qualities.
About the author: Jenny is a stay at home mom who loves to read a lot about variety of topics, and then shares her thoughts with others. She is a fan of coffee extract and its health benefits. Jenny is currently living in London, but loves to travel and meet new people and visit different places.
