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Herb Notes from Barb: Herbs you won't find in the Supermarket |
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Written by Barbara Fay
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Wednesday, 13 August 2008 17:04 |
When I first moved to Fairbanks, way back in 1967 about the only fresh herb that as (sometimes) available in the supermarket was parsley and occasionally in the spring, a clump of chives. As the years passed and the discovery that fresh herbs make wonderful additions to culinary endeavors, more and more fresh herbs were added to the parsley in the produce section, though the quality still left much to be desired. Nowadays there is a wide array and most common herbs are readily available. With modern methods of packaging and shipping, their quality, for the most part, is very good.
However, there are many culinary herbs that you cannot buy in the supermarket, either because they are not well known and would not sell well, or because they do not ship well. So unless you grow them yourself or can beg them from a friend who grows them, you will never know; the joy and heady aroma that comes up from a hot broiled steak or roast enthroned on a bed of lovage leaves; the beauty and flavor of cold cucumber soup garnished with borage or nasturtium blossoms; the enticing flavor of lemon thyme or lemon balm mixed in with potatoes, and vegetables or sprinkled over broiled fish. You will miss the fun and flavor of sipping tomato juice or Bloody Marys through lovage straws or lemonade through sweet cicely straws made from the hollow stems. You will never experience the delightful aroma of sweet cicely and sweet woodruff or the sweet candy like flavor of anise hyssop blossoms.
Following is a list of some of these less common herbs that you probably will not find in the supermarket and a few suggestions of how you might use them.
Anise Hyssop’s (Agastache foeniculum) purple flowers have a sweet licorice flavor, the leaves a more muted flavor. The florets, eaten “as is” taste like licorice candy, the flowers make a beautiful purple garnish. Fresh flowers and leaves can be used as an herb tea or for flavoring herb teas. In asian dishes they can act as an intriguing substitute for star anise. They can be chopped and added to cakes, muffins or cookies or steeped in the liquid used to make custards, puddings and pie fillings.
Toronjil Morado (Agastache mexicana) is one of the herbs we grew in the Georgeson Garden Mexican Herb Bed last year and it turned out to be a real winner. It belongs to the same family as Anise Hyssop but has intensely lemon-scented flowers and leaves and can be used in the same ways as its cousin. Adorned by large red flowers, it is a beautiful, impressive plant.
Borage’s (Borago officinalis) bright blue flowers make a colorful garnish when floated in soups or a punch bowl or used to decorate cakes and ice cream. They add a colorful accent and cucumber flavor to the salad bowl or in cream cheese dips or spreads. The leaves can be cooked as a vegetable in just a little water, then chopped finely and served with butter. They lose their mucilaginous quality and bristles when cooked and become like dark green spinach.
Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium ‘Crispum’) is not often found in the produce department because it does not travel well. It is the gourmet’s parsley though it tastes more like tarragon or anise than parsley. It is a fine flavoring for cold drinks, in egg dishes or cottage cheese. Use it any kind of salad - green, vegetable, potato, seafood or aspic. Warm it in butter to enhance chicken, fish, or cooked vegetables and add it to soups, especially cream of carrot, potato or in a soup by itself. Its lacy leaves make a lovely platter garnish if added at the last moment to meats, salads, or vegetables.
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) can be chopped and added to any dish that calls for lemon juice. It is the perfect tea herb. The fragrance keeps fairy well in baked goods, captured by the surrounding medium. Lay fish or chicken over a bed of leaves before baking or stuff the body of a chicken with leaves before roasting. Toss whole or chopped fresh leaves into all kinds of salads, poultry stuffings or marinades for fish. A bundle of the leaves makes a nice brush for fish or chicken on the BBQ. Tuck a leaf in a jelly jar before pouring in the jelly to give it a hint of lemon.
Lovage (Levisticum officinale) tastes sharply of celery and parsley with a spicy depth. It is a very versatile herb. Add leaves and stalks to soups, stews, casseroles, roasts, and gravy. Add leaves to salads, dressings, marinades, and sauces, chop and sprinkle on cooked veggies, stews, and broiled meats. It is traditionally used on potatoes in all forms and the candied stems and leaves can be used for decorating cakes and cookies. Place broiled or roast meats on a bed of it on a serving platter and you not only get a beautiful garnish and a delicate seasoning but also a wonder aroma! The stems make a nice straw for sipping tomato juice cocktails or bloody Marys. Crush the leaves and put them under the tap when running bath water for an exotic bath.
Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata) is said to contain as much as 40% sugar so use it in recipes where a sweet touch is needed. By chopping it up and adding it to your favorite rhubarb pie (1/4 cup for a 9” pie) you can cut down on both the amount of sugar needed and the acidity. It goes well with carrots, parsnips, potatoes, turnips, Brussels sprouts and cabbage, in cream coups and sauces, with fish, in fruit soups, stewed fruit, and fruit salads. Its lovely, lacy leaf makes an attractive garnish for plates or platters.
Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum [Asperula odorata}) is traditionally used to greet the spring at May Day celebrations. Germans put sprigs of Sweet Woodruff into new wine and drink it as a tonic. Adding the herb to a young wine improves the taste of an otherwise thin and harsh-tasting wine. To make the traditional German May bowl, allow fresh sprigs of the herb to stand in Rhine wine overnight, and then float fresh strawberries in the bowl before serving. Seep the leaves in brandy and then use the brandy for part of the liquid in making custard for bread puddings or a killer banana cream pie. The FDA considers Sweet woodruff safe only for use in alcoholic beverages.
None of these herbs is difficult to grow. With the exception of the Torojil Morada, I have grown them all successfully in the Fairbanks area for many years. So in the Northwest you'll find them easy to grow and return to your garden's each year. Anise hyssop, borage, chervil, lemon balm and lovage are easily started from seed and transplants can usually be found in some of the local nurseries. Once you start borage and let it flower you will not ever have to start it again as it almost too readily reseeds itself each year. Lovage comes back every year (my original plant is over 30 years old!) and is usually the first green that I can harvest in the spring. If allowed to go to seed it will reseed itself. Anise hyssop, depending on where it is planted, will over winter outdoors. It also will reseed itself, but often times will not come up “true to taste” the second year so I prefer to start out with new plants each year. Lemon balm which is a mint, will come back each year. Chervil will have to be started each year.
Torojil Morada, Sweet Cicely and Sweet Woodruff will have to be purchased as plants. Sweet Cicely and Sweet Woodruff seeds are very difficult and slow to start so it is best to purchase plants. Sweet Cicely will reseed itself.
I hope these suggestions will give you an incentive to try growing and using some of these lesser-known herbs. Besides adding a new dimension to your culinary efforts they are all beautiful plants and a fine addition to any landscape.
Herbally yours,
Barb Fay
Newly transpanted to Bainbridge Island from Fairbanks
“It’s not what you eat. It’s how you talk about it that counts”
JAMES GORDON
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