These have been highly prized for centuries, both for their aroma and flavor, and for their healing and medicinal properties. In cooking, herbs can make a significant difference to a dish, enlivening the simplest meals. Fresh herbs can be grown easily at home in the garden, or in a pot or window box, and are also widely available from supermarkets, as sprigs, leaves and growing in pots. Dried and frozen herbs are also available.
DILL
It thrives in the warmer regions of the northern hemisphere and is widely used in Scandinavian cooking. Dill goes well in potato salads, and with courgettes (zucchini) and cucumber. It makes a good addition to creamy sauces and can be added to a wide variety of egg dishes. It has a great affinity with fish, especially oily fish such as mackerel, herring and salmon, and is an essential ingredient for making Gravadlax (Scandinavian marinated salmon). It can also be used as a flavoring for dressings and marinades, and is a good partner for mustard. Add to dishes just before serving, as its mild, delicate flavor diminishes with cooking.
SWEET CICELY
This pretty, fern-like herb is rarely available today, although is often grown in old-fashioned gardens and by gardening enthusiasts. The herb has a sweet, faintly aniseed or licorice flavor and can be used in salads and fruit pies and desserts. It also makes a very attractive decoration.
LOVAGE
This strongly flavored herb was once a popular addition to stocks and soups, but is not so widely available today. The plant has large, rather tough-looking leaves that have a distinctive smell. Use sparingly in casseroles and soups. It goes especially well with potato dishes and omelettes.
LEMON BALM
With its distinctive lemon fragrance and flavor, this herb complements all ingredients that go well with citrus fruit or juice-fish, veal, poultry and beans. Whole or finely chopped leaves are excellent in salads and stuffing and adds delicious flavor to cream, syrup and custard for desserts. Lemon balm also makes a refreshing herbal tea.
ANGELICA
Although best known in its candied form, Angelica is actually an herb. The stem of this pretty plant is soft and fibrous and, once candied, has an unassuming flavor. The leaves of the Angelica plant are delicate and can be used for flavoring desserts. It has a particular affinity with sharply flavored rhubarb.
MINT
There are many different varieties of mint, each with subtle differences in flavor and aroma. Spearmint is the most popular mint. It has pointed, serrated leaves with the fresh familiar flavor we mostly associate with mint. This is the preferred type for mint sauce or mint jelly to accompany the lamb. It is also used for the tea that is such a favorite in North Africa and the Middle East, and for Kentucky mint julep. Peppermint, with its longer, darker leaves, has a stronger flavor. The pretty, soft green leaves of apple mint have a more subtle, fruitier flavor. There is also lemon and pineapple mint, which may come your way via a friendly gardener since they are not readily available in the shops. These, like apple mint, have a nice fruity flavor and make a refreshing summer drink. Mint is used as a flavoring in a wide variety of dishes, from stuffing to fruit salads. It is an essential ingredient in the Middle Eastern salad, tabbouleh, and is also mixed with natural (plain) yogurt to make Raita, a soothing accompaniment to curries. In Thai cooking, mint is added to soups and to some highly spiced curries. Asian mint is much more strongly flavored than most European types, with a Sweet, cool aftertaste.
THYME
This Mediterranean herb has a Wonderfully aromatic and heady scent. It has small, gray-green leaves and purple flowers and values for the antiseptic properties of its essential oil as well as for its culinary usefulness. There are a number of varieties besides common thyme. Lemon thyme, which has a spicy. Lemon flavor, has an affinity with fish. One of the most frequently used kitchen herbs, thyme goes particularly well in slow-cooked dishes, adding an earthy, sweet pungent flavor. It harmonizes well with Mediterranean vegetables-tomatoes, (bell) peppers, courgettes (zucchini) and aubergines (eggplant) and is also wonderful in stuffing, pâtés and terrines. It is widely used in marinades for beef, pork, lamb and game and goes well with baked fish. It also makes a tasty addition to plain lentils and scrambled eggs.
BAY LEAVES
This herb, from a Mediterranean evergreen, has a heady aroma and adds a distinct pungency to food. For this reason bay leaves go best with strongly flavored dishes-beef, lamb or game casseroles and broths, as well as pâtés and terrines. They are also used to line the grill (broiler) pan when cooking fish and may be threaded onto kebab skewers. They are traditionally included in a bouquet garni, along with parsley and thyme, and used in making stocks, marinades and court-bouillons for fish. Bay leaves may also be used to flavor sweet dishes such as apple pie. Place a bay leaf in a jar of caster (superfine) sugar to flavor it in the same way as a vanilla pod (bean) and use the sugar for desserts. Bay leaves are best left to dry for a few days, and if you do have your own bay tree, the leaves are easy to dry and can be used for up to a year. To dry bay leaves, place them in a single layer on a large sheet of plain paper and leave in a dry, dark place for several days.
LEMON GRASS
Few ingredients have seized the Western imagination in recent years quite so dramatically as lemon grass. At one time, this scented grass was little known outside the tropics of Southeast Asia, but today it is widely grown in many parts of the world. Lemon grass is a perennial tufted plant with a bulbous base that grows in dense clumps. The cut stems are about 20 cm/8 in length, and resemble fat spring onions (scallions). It is only when the stems are cut that the citrus aroma can be most demand. This is matched by a clean, dynamic lemon flavor which has the citrus tang, but none of the acidity associated with lemon or grapefruit. Only the bottom 7.5 cm/3 in of the stem is edible and this part can be finely chopped or lean slice every other, the total stem can be scrubbed, added to a dish to flavor it and then discarded before serving. Lemon grass can collect to curries. Soups and casseroles, information those made with chicken and seafood.
WASABI
This is the Japanese answer to horseradish, although the flavor is not so harsh. It comes from a plant related to watercress and also grows with its roots in running water. The peeled root reveals delicate, apple-green flesh, which is either finely grated, or dried and powdered. The dried powder is made into a cream with a little soy sauce or water. Wasabi is always served as an accompaniment to sashimi, a dish of raw fish. It is fairly expensive, so beware of bargain-price "wasabi" which may be made from horseradish.
HORSERADISH
This is a member of the same family as mustard, cabbage and, curiously, wallflowers. The plant has large, long leaves with pronounced pale veins. The long, tapering root is not unlike a parsnip, with rings and rootlets sprouting from the main root. Fresh horseradish has a powerful smell and fiery taste and should be handled with great care. A bright green wasabi paste is made from wasabi powder mixed with water or soy sauce. Horseradish is a good accompaniment for rich or rather fatty foods. It is richer in vitamin C than lemons or oranges. To prepare fresh horseradish, peel only the amount needed and grate, or shred in a food processor. Once grated, it quickly loses its pungency, so prepare in small quantities. Horseradish sauce, with a creamy consistency, varies in strength according to the brand. Creamed horseradish is milder and slightly sweeter. Both can be used as an accompaniment to
Beef, steaks and venison, served with strong-flavored, oily fish such as mackerel, tuna or smoked trout, or spread on toast with meat pâtés.
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