Joined: Jan 2013 Gender: Female Posts: 373 Location: NOLA,USA
Culinary Herbs « Thread Started on Mar 15, 2010, 9:51am »
Many of us use fresh herbs in our cooking,and we have had some interesting discussions over time about the proper or preferred use of some of them. Many are seasonal,not just with reference to when they flourish in gardens,but,also in their use in cooking.Some even have names referring to the season they are used and grow in (Summer savory,Winter savory).
What herb(s) do you use the most of in your cooking? Do you use it fresh or dried as some recipes explicitly refer.(given that the taste does change in some when dried) What herbs do you detest the taste of in some dishes? Are there 'essential' culinary herbs you could not do without?
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #3 on Mar 15, 2010, 5:30pm »
Fresh coriander is an absolute must for me, as is fresh parsley. I like to make tabbouleh with coriander instead of mint. Dried chili flakes are another item in constant use.
Spindrift, I'm assuming you're not an anise fan either? It is a 'love it or leave it' tastel. I love it but in digestifs and candy only.
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #4 on Mar 15, 2010, 5:54pm »
Mostly I use fresh basil, rosemary, parsley, oregano, sage, cilantro(coriander), thyme, and peppers because I never have any trouble growing them. I also pick up fresh garlic and ginger at the grocery frequently. I have occasionally dabbled in fennel, different kinds of mint, dill, tarragon, and majoram.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,325 Location: Mexico
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #5 on Mar 15, 2010, 6:26pm »
Mm. This is kind of a sore subject for me, as I always had a wide variety of herbs growing and now cannot due to unavailability.
The one herb I'm likely to use dried is oregano in Mexican cooking. Even though I grow oregano, I know the kind I buy dried at the market is the correct one to use for certain recipes.
I guess I'd put the dried chile flakes more in the spice category than the herb, ditto ginger.
I keep basil growing all year round, not least because the rare bottle of dried to be found in the supermarket is completely tasteless. Parsley and coriander are only good fresh. I grow dill because I like it and because it's such a pretty plant. I can't get fennel seed here, and at the moment am relying on some rather weak anise plants. I'd probably trade a major organ of my body for a sage or tarragon plant.
I do use some Mexican herbs on a regular basis, most particularly epazote. Others would be avocado leaves and the various seasonal herbs for flavoring beans.
Joined: Jan 2013 Gender: Female Posts: 373 Location: NOLA,USA
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #7 on Mar 17, 2010, 11:44am »
I have no luck at all growing French tarragon either,it's just too humid here for it.And I love it.
Dried herbs that I prefer for a stronger,more distinctive taste are rosemary (in most dishes) and absolutely, oregano. Fresh herbs I use frequently are basil,(both sweet and Thai),parsley (prefer the large flat leafed),dill,chives,cilantro,mint,sage,some epazote,thyme,sweet marjoram(I love in omelets!)and I adore chervil!!
I grow lots of anise and fennel but have rare occasion to use it.
Bay laurel is a mainstay,but,I'm not sure it qualifies as a culinary herb or not.
My name really isn't Don, but I used to be anónimo.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 2,949 Location: Michoacán, México
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #8 on Mar 17, 2010, 1:01pm »
I love fresh basil; good, flat leaf parsley has its place; NO to sage, except in minute quantities; I like anise/fennel etc, but don't use it gresh or very much at all. Cilantro is useful in many dishes as a garnish, but it doesn't seem to keep more than a day or two in the fridge veg drawer. A little epazote in small quantities, only in cooked foods. Tarragon: really too sweet for me. Dried parsley and dried mint: FEH!
Joined: Oct 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 445 Location: Canada
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #9 on Mar 17, 2010, 7:05pm »
Fresh cilantro and parsley, and I plan on using fresh basil more often. I also discovered that fresh thyme is much more flavorful in a stew than dried. I suppose if I ever need mint, I will use fresh. And I seem to recall using fresh dill on a couple occasions, but I like dry dill sprinkled on my salmon before I poach it, which is my most frequent use of the herb.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 34,527 Location: Paris, France
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #10 on Mar 17, 2010, 7:15pm »
I overuse any fresh herbs that I can get -- cilantro, basil, dill, parsley, chervil, chives -- and love them all the more for their overwhelming flavor.
In the dry department, I use a lot of Cayenne, cumin, thyme, bay leaves, turmeric, fennel seeds, tarragon, and various peppers.
I would use a lot of saffron if it were not so expensive.
Joined: Jan 2013 Gender: Female Posts: 373 Location: NOLA,USA
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #11 on Mar 17, 2010, 7:30pm »
I am very heavy handed with cilantro and parsley as well.To think,the very first time I had fresh cilantro,I was in a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco and I was absolutely repulsed by it. Now, I can't get enough of it.
Existential,try experimenting with more of the fresh herbs,you will taste a world of difference. Very often,it's the essential oils in the fresh leaves that release the desired flavor. It's just not the same in the dried versions.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,325 Location: Mexico
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #12 on Mar 17, 2010, 8:22pm »
Out of curiosity, do you all consider seeds to be herbs, or spices? For instance, I've always considered the leaf of a plant such as dill to be an herb, but its seed to be a spice. I'd say ginger and turmeric, whether dried or fresh, are spices, and bay leaf could fall into either camp.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,325 Location: Mexico
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #15 on Mar 17, 2010, 9:40pm »
Theoretically, yes, they would be, but I think the roots associated with Asian and Indian cooking are considered spices, for whatever reason. But what does that make horseradish?
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 3,885 Location: Phnom Penh
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #16 on Mar 18, 2010, 10:40am »
Much of what has been mentioned above already.
Two herbs more typical of this region are sawtooth coriander and holy basil. I don't like the latter but it is very popular with the other member of my household
If roots are included, ginger, galangal, turmeric in the dried powdered state and that illusive 'krachai' I've written about.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 3,885 Location: Phnom Penh
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #18 on Mar 19, 2010, 8:01am »
I eat the kaffir lime leaves that we use. They come from my own pot and we always just use the young ones, but deveined of course. I even eat the galangal slices, it's available very fresh and young.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,325 Location: Mexico
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #19 on Mar 19, 2010, 3:51pm »
That reminds me of something I've wanted to know for a long time .......
Recipes calling for lemon grass frequently say to chop the tender portions. What if there are no tender portions? Depending on the season, or the source of ones lemon grass, there may be nothing but the top leaves, or leaves and very tough bottom sections. What then? I've been putting leaf sections in whole, then removing them before serving, but is that correct?
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 3,885 Location: Phnom Penh
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #21 on Mar 20, 2010, 7:38am »
If you get the very young shoots, yes, you peel them (similar to an onion), then chop them up across the grain, maybe half a millimeter thick... anyway, very narrow. You can actually use this to make into a dip or as a salad dressing.
Wait a second... I just reread Bixa's post more carefully. The tender part is not actually at the top, it's at the bulbous part, nearest to the root. You can peel of the woody outside then you get the tender part that you can chop up. Maybe more similar to 'peeling' a carrot (as described by gertie in another thread I think) than an onion.
Finely sliced and deveined kaffir lime leaves are an important ingredient in fish patties. I think Baz has written somewhere that normal lime leaves are an adequate substitute.
Joined: Jan 2013 Gender: Female Posts: 373 Location: NOLA,USA
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #22 on Mar 20, 2010, 10:00am »
Thanks HW!! My new hero!!! (I did know that the soft tissue was at the bottom,and I think Bixa knows as well,but clarification of the other is what I was looking for.) (Also of new note to me,lemongrass is incredibly cold hardy,mine survived 2 hard freezes...).
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 25,325 Location: Mexico
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #23 on Mar 20, 2010, 4:58pm »
Thanks, HW. What I meant was that, depending on the time of the year, climate conditions, age of plant, etc., sometimes the only usable portion seems to be the top, i.e., the leaves.
So yeah, I knew the tender part is supposed to be the bulbous section at the bottom, but not what to do when that section is woody. I guess I should have realized that the heart of it would be still be nice, so thank you for the good tip.
Speaking of tips -- maybe everyone already knows this, but a garlic press is useful for expressing ginger juice as well.
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 3,885 Location: Phnom Penh
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #24 on Mar 23, 2010, 10:35am »
Yes. I do that myself.
When I was still in Germany I had a doner kebab machine at home. For parties I'd fire it up. One of the ingredients I used to marinate the meat in was ginger juice. I got that from the garlic press
Joined: Feb 2009 Gender: Female Posts: 3,548 Location: Montréal
Re: Culinary Herbs « Reply #27 on Mar 23, 2010, 11:55pm »
Beautiful! Up here, I've always had trouble growing it, though a lot is grown commercially by market gardeners in season.
I like most of those herbs - I'm not among the many who hate coriander or the anise family (I have friends who are passionate haters some of coriander, some of anise, fennel etc). Sage is perennial here, but the Russian tarragon is more perennial than the French - no surprise.
Now I live on the upper floor of a triplex and can only grow balcony herbs. For the moment the coop has nixed a tiny vegetable and herb patch, leaving the wee backyard to families with small children, but there is only one small child now and her parents would like to garden, so we'll have to think it over. Unfortunately some structural work will have to be done this spring so I doubt there will be any garden started.
Thanks HW! That is only 1/4 of it,I have clusters of it scattered throughout the potager. Some are 'volunteers' from last year,the rest is from seed I scattered all over the place,in between rows and other bare spots. I would love to see your lemongrass. Mine is looking sickly right now. I'm hoping it will make a comeback.
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Mm. This is kind of a sore subject for me, as I always had a wide variety of herbs growing and now cannot due to unavailability. 
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(I did know that the soft tissue was at the bottom,and I think Bixa knows as well,but clarification of the other is what I was looking for.)
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