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Herbs

Many people used fresh herbs mainly as a garnish for their food- a sprig of parsley or mint to make a dish look attractive. These days, herbs have become a more integral part of our cooking and we are learning to use more of them. Herbs also have a nutritional value to our healthy lifestyle. They are a valuable additions to our diet program. Green herbs such as parsley, mint and basil are rich sources of many minerals and vitamins, including vitamin E and folate. Perhaps the most important nutritional aspect of fresh herbs is their high content of anti-oxidants. These prevent undesirable changes in cells and reduce the risks of heart disease and some cancers. They also prevent some of the effects of aging in body cells. Herbs that are used as food or seasoning are called culinary herbs.

Angelica
A large biennial herb of the genus Angelica, in the carrot family, Umbelliferae. It occurs naturally in northern Europe, Greenland, and Iceland, and is cultivated and naturalized in many parts of Europe. The young stem and leaf-stalk are crystallized in sugar and used in confectionery as flavouring and decoration.

Anise
An annual herb, a member of the family Umbelliferae, that was introduced long ago from China to Europe, Asia, and North America. The small, greyish-brown, aromatic fruits are used for flavouring, giving the characteristic flavour to the liqueur `anisette' as well as to various beverages, cakes, and sweets. Oil of anise, distilled from the fruits, is used in cough medicines and lozenges.

Basil
It’s a common name for any of a genus of plants of the mint family. Basil is a sweet herb used for fragrance and as a seasoning for food. Sweet basil is an aromatic annual plant, a native of warm climates, about 30 cm (about 12 in) high, with ovate stalked leaves, and has long been cultivated in Europe . Bush basil is a small cultivated form. Basil, or mountain mint, is also a common name for plants of a separate, North American genus of the mint family.

Bay leaf
It’s a common name for a flowering plant family, widespread in tropical and subtropical regions. The laurel, or bay, also called bay laurel and bayberry, is a large evergreen shrub native to the Mediterranean region; it has been important since classical times and is now widely cultivated in warm temperate areas as an ornamental and for its aromatic leaves, which are used in cooking, to flavor meats, sauces, and vinegars.

Bergamot
It’s an aromatic North American herb of the mint family. It’s an oily substance extracted from the rind of a dwarf variety of Seville orange. Wild bergamot is commonly grown as a garden plant. The dried leaves can be brewed to make a tea with sedative effects that is said to relieve nausea, like Earl Grey tea. The herb adds a sweet flavor and fragrance to desserts, jellies, and soft cheeses. The leaves are used to scent candles, perfumes, and potpourri.

Borage
It’s a common name for a large, widely distributed family of flowering. The species used as a culinary herb. The family found throughout the temperate and subtropical regions of the world but centered in the Mediterranean area. Plants vary widely in habit from annuals to perennials and from herbs to shrubs to trees. They usually have rough hairs on the stems and leaves. One species of borage, native to Europe and North Africa , has been used as a culinary herb since the middle ages. It is a grayish-green, hairy annual about 60 cm (about 24 in) high, now mostly grown for its attractive little blue, white-centered flowers. Virginia bluebell, heliotrope, and forget-me-not are also members of this family.

Camomile
A strongly scented herb of the genus Chamaemelum, which belongs to the sunflower family. They occur throughout Europe and south-west Asia. These species, particularly the non-flowering varieties, are also used as a lawn-grass substitute on dry soils. Flowers with white rays and golden disks used dried or fresh to make chamomile tea. Also, oil may be extracted from the flowers for use in perfume, medicine, and hair rinse. The flowers of the golden chamomile are a source of yellow dye.

Chervil
It’s an Eurasian plant of the parsley family, with small white flowers and delicate fern-like leaves which are used as a culinary herb, potherb, seasoning, and garnish in the same way as parsley.

Chicory
A widespread native plant of Europe and Asia. A relative of the daisy, it is an easily-grown salad vegetable which is eaten as `greens'. The plant has heads of large, bright blue flowers and dandelion like roots. Certain varieties are grown for their large roots, which when dried, ground, and roasted may be blended with coffee or can be use as a coffee substitute.

Chives
A herb of the lily family,closely related to the onion, garlic, and leek. Chives are widespread across the Northern Hemisphere and also occur in Asia Minor and the Himalayas. They produce dense tufts of bright green, tubular leaves, up to 25 cm (10 inches) long, which are used in salads, and bear attractive round purple or pink flower-heads.

Comfrey
The common name for several species of perennial herbaceous plant which is part of the forget-me-not family, Boraginaceae. The common comfrey, S. officinale, has a fleshy, branching root-system and large, hairy leaves. The flowering stem, 30–120 cm (12–48 inches) high, bears drooping clusters of creamy-yellow or purplish blooms. It is native to temperate Asia and Europe. The leaves and roots have long been considered to have medicinal properties, which is used in herbal medicine

Dill
A hardy, aromatic, annual herb, growing up to 70 cm (2.3 feet). It is a member of the same family as carrot, caraway, and fennel and is a native of southern Europe and western Asia. Use snipped fresh dill on fish or chicken or leave some in vinegar to add a slight flavour to salad dressings. Its leaves are used for flavoring pickles and sauces or medicinal purposes.

Dittany
It’s a common name for various plants of the mint order. It’s a dwarf shrub with white woolly leaves and pink flowers, native to Crete and Greece. Dittanies are used in cookery as a seasoning, herbal medicine, and for brewing mint teas.

Fennel
It’s a perennial member of the carrot family, native to southern Europe but naturalized in other places, particularly near the coast. It resembles dill in its feathery appearance but has a taste similar to that of anise. The seeds and leaves are used as a spice and culinary herbs, while the annual Florence fennel with swollen leaf-stems which are eaten as a vegetable.

Fenugreek
An annual plant, which belongs to the pea family. Although a native of the Mediterranean region, it is now widely grown in India, where the seeds are an ingredient of curries and for flavoring cattle food. And the leaves are eaten as salad. Recent investigations suggest the plant may contain substances with contraceptive properties.

Hyssop
A bushy herb of the Mediterranean, sometimes evergreen and formerly much used in medicine. It was also used in cooking, like its relative, mint. There are about 14 other species within its genus, extending from the Mediterranean to central Asia. The leaves were once used as a medicinal herb tea for pulmonary or catarrhal disorders. The aromatic oil extracted from the leaves is sometimes used in liqueurs.

Lavender
It’s a genus of shrubs belonging to the mint family. They are found from the Atlantic islands through the Mediterranean to India. L. vera is widely cultivated for its flowers and for its oil, which is used in scent and soap. Common lavender is a shrubby Mediterranean herb also cultivated in gardens. It has narrow leaves and small lilac-purple flowers containing oil of lavender, used in the manufacture of perfumes, toilet water, and aromatic vinegar. Dried flowers of lavender are used to make sachets for perfuming clothing and linens.

Lemon balm
A bushy herb of the mint family, with leaves smelling and tasting of lemon. It’s also called bee herb or sweet balm, a culinary and medicinal herb native to southern Europe and northern Africa, and east as far as the Caucasus and northern Iran. The lemon-scented leaves add flavor to jellies, liqueurs, fruit salads, and cold drinks. The dried leaves make a tea that reportedly soothes cold symptoms, fevers, and headaches. The strongly scented leaves are also used in perfumes and natural cosmetics, and their juice takes the sting out of insect bites.

Lemon grass
A common ingredient in Thai and Sri Lankan recipes. The lower part of the stalk is used, sliced finely and used in Thai recipes, or ground up with other ingredients in many curry pastes. The green part of the stalk can be used to make lemon grass tea

Lovage
A large edible white-flowered plant of the parsley family. It’s a perennial plant, native to southern Europe, but now found wild in the United States. Lovage is grown as an ornamental, and its celery-flavored seeds, leaves, and fruits are also used in flavorings. The roots yield oil that is used in liqueurs and perfumes.

Marjoram
It’s an aromatic southern European plant of the mint family, the leaves of which are used as a culinary herb. Like the smaller pot marjoram, O. onites, it comes from the Mediterranean region. Wild marjoram from warmer countries, which has a stronger flavour, is dried and sold as the herb oregano.

Mint
Mint has traditionally been served with lamb and the flavours marry well. A mint pesto is wonderfully fresh. In a food processor, combine the leaves of one or two bunches of fresh mint, a tablespoon of pine nuts, the juice of a lemon, a couple of cloves of garlic and about a quarter of a cup of olive oil. You can serve mint pesto with grilled lamb steaks or roast lamb or add the whole mixture to freshly cooked drained pasta and refrigerate until cold to serve as a refreshing summer salad.

Oregano
Sometimes known as wild marjoram, oregano is a wonderful ingredient in Greek or Italian dishes. Its flavour is stronger, more robust and less sweet than marjoram. Chop up a tablespoon or so of fresh oregano and add it to home-made pizza or pasta dishes.

Parsley
It is a member of the carrot family. The wild form has a plain, deeply segmented leaf, but the cultivated form has curled and crisped segments. The leaves are used whole or finely chopped as a garnish in a variety of dishes. Chopped fresh parsley is delicious in pasta, rice, casseroles, omelettes, scrambled eggs, or mixed with ricotta or cottage cheese to use in sandwiches.

Peppermint
A hybrid between water mint and spear mint, widely cultivated in Europe, North Africa, and America. Unlike other mints, it is prized for its oil, which is distilled from fresh flowering plants and used in cordials, confectionery, and as a flavouring in food. The oil is mildly antiseptic and is also used to treat indigestion. It’s also can be used as an ingredient in some cigarettes, cough drops, shaving creams, and lotions.

Rosemary
It’s an aromatic shrub of the mint family, native to southern Europe. The narrow leaves are used as a culinary herb, in perfumery, and as an emblem of remembrance.Fresh rosemary sprigs can be cooked with lamb, chicken or fish. Make slashes and tuck a piece of rosemary into each before baking or barbecuing.

Rue
It’s a perennial evergreen shrub with bitter strong-scented lobed leaves which are used in herbal medicine.

Sage
A low-growing shrub, belonging to the mint family. It is native to arid areas of southern Europe, though it is cultivated as a culinary herb in other, cooler regions. With its grey-blue leaves and strong flavour, sage is wonderful with chicken, turkey, potatoes, cauliflower, home-made bread and stuffings. Use it sparingly as its aromatic properties can be overwhelming if used in excess. A tablespoon added to a stuffing is usually enough.

Savory
It’s an aromatic plant of the mint family, used as a culinary herb. Several species, in particular the annual summer savory, which is traditionally used with beans.

Sorrel
A European plant of the dock family, with arrow-shaped leaves that are used in salads and cookery for their acidic flavour. The leaves are cultivated for use as a salad green and as a potherb.

Spearmint
The common garden mint, which is used as a culinary herb and to flavour chewing gum. Members of the mint family often contain aromatic oils, and many (often of Mediterranean origin) are cultivated as culinary herbs.

Sweet cicely
A white-flowered European plant of the parsley family, with large fern-like leaves and a scent which resembles aniseed. It does not grow well in tropical or subtropical regions. The leaves, stems, and seed pods can be used to add an anise flavor to salads, teas, soups, and pies, or to sweeten sour fruit, such as rhubarb. In the Middle Ages, sweet cicely was used to stimulate the appetite and treat cold symptoms. The boiled roots were eaten as a protection against the plague.

Tarragon
It’s a common name for an aromatic, bitter, perennial herb, of the family of composite flowers, native to Siberia and the regions surrounding the Caspian Sea . It reaches a height of about 61 cm (about 24 in) and is cultivated as a culinary herb in Western Europe . The green parts of the tarragon plant are used for seasoning salads and for flavoring pickles, vinegar, and mustard. The sweet-scented marigold is sometimes used as a substitute. A herb widely used in French cooking. Goes especially well with egg dishes, chicken, fish and other seafoods, potato salad and as a flavouring for vinegars used on salads.

Thyme
There are many types of thyme and most are wonderful used in stuffings. Thyme is also good withfish, mushrooms, cauliflower and pasta sauces.

Yerba buena
A trailing aromatic herb with whitish or lilac flowers, related to savory. Native to the western US, it has been used medicinally and as a local tea.