A PARADE OF HERBS
"Flavor," a famous gourmet once said, "is the soul of food."
He should have gone one step farther, adding,"... and herbs are the soul of flavor."
America is interested in herbs. All over our land nurseries are gathering and offering lists of these sweet revivals of other days. Magazines are publishing hints for the use of herbs in modern life. Up and down the country men and women are wakening to a new-old form of food seasoning that is becoming daily more popular.
There are some to whom herbs and their use will never be more than a passing vogue, followed for a time, then soon forgotten. But to those versatile ones who rreally learn the secret of cooking with herbs, a fascinating path of culinary discovery and accomplishment will be disclosed.
All the wide world of vegetation blooms and buds for you; the thorn and the thistle which the earth casts forth ... are to you the kindliest servants; no dying petal nor drooping tendril is so feeble as to have no help for you.
Regardless of whom or what John Ruskin actually had in mind when he wrote those words, he might easily have been speaking of a cook exploring the wealth of culinary herbs, for who else so cunningly turns Nature to her good account?
To season with herbs one needs no spices from far lands, no exotic condiments; nothing but a plot of ground or a box in a sunny window, a few seeds, some plants. It is a simple as that, the stocking of your kitchen with herbs, those flavors which are second to none.
Herbs are the seasonings of the people, the seasonings one can always have, no matter what the condition of world commerce or the pocketbook.
Herbs are as old as the first blade of grass on a cooling earth.Man, in his quest for variety in foods, was not slow to discover that some plants have characteristic fragrances that tickled even his green palate. The true story of their first use is not known, nor the land where this occurred, for the story of every country is redolent of herbs, and the world's acquaintance with them is of patently long standing.
Written records of history bear testimony to their use in the earliest known times. Theophrastus, pliny, Aristophon, Virgil and Horace, are only a few of the ancients who wrote of herbs and their place in the life of other times. Such fragrant plants as Mint, Rue, and Cumin, are mentioned often in the Bible. Picturing Eden as Milton painted it in "Paradise Lost," we hear Eve's words with peculiar understanding:
Adam, well may we labour, still to dress
This Garden, still to tend plant, herb and flower.
Wherever man went, herbs were there for him, marking their intimate tracery through his history; Mithridates eating each morning his cakes of Rue, to counteract poison which might have been in his food; Casanova chewing sweet herbs to perfume his breath; Charlemagne choosing the herbs for his royal gardens; the companions of Columbus sowing Mugwort leaves in their shoes to relieve fatigue; early San Francisco bearing first the name of Yerba Buena (the good herb), for the trailing wild Mint grew so riotously on its hills
Old maps of London are almost fragrant when one stoops and reeads such names as Great Saffron Hill, Camomile Street, Rosemary Lane, Royal Mint Street, and sees the Herb Market that until 1775 stood in Leadenhall.
Many herbs grow wild and native to the soil of the United States. Others, brought by the first comers from Europe, have become naturalized, until this is a richly sweet land of ours. Up to a few generations ago herbs were used in America as freely as in Europe. They were in every household garden their use a part of every women's knowledge.
In the light of this, it would seem impossible that they could be forgotten. But Time can so swiftly obliterate even memory of the thing no longer before one's eyes ! Interest in herbs languished, no one understands just why. Kitchen gardens no longer boasted the dainty Thyme, the silver Marjoram, and the rest of the sweet kitchen aids of other ages. We, whose grandmothers mingled herb scents with food to their undying fame, today find our herbal experience limited to the ubiquitous Sage, the monotonous "Poultry Seasoning."
It is sad truth that when we Americans gave up herb culture and herb cookery we relinquished something hard to recover, and lost infinitely by its abandonment; but now at last we are being reintroduced to these magic seasonings, and taking to them like the proverbial duck to the village pond.
Since herbs are such completely forgotten lore, their introduction to the average American will have to be as between total strangers. Each herb must be presented, studied, used, and, if possible, cultivated, so that we well know and appreciate it. they all are worthy of such concentration, and well worth knowing, growing, using and loving.
My dictionary defines herbs as:
A seed plant whose stem does not develop woody tissue, as that of a shrub or tree, but persists only long enough for the development of flowers and seeds. Herbs may be annual, biennial or perennial, according to the length of life of their roots.
For practical purposes, however herbs have come to be understood as those plants whose leaves, stems or sees have aromatic or medicinal qualities, so that they my be used as perfume, food, seasoning or medicine.
Since we in this book are concerned first of all with food and its seasoning, let us consider herbs from that point of view. Most cooks think of herbs as little beyond those six primary seasoning plants of which they most often hear --- Mint, Thyme, Sage, Marjoram, Rosemary, and Basil. When by chance they are given a glimpse of the further wealth of herbal flavor which can help make eating and living a daily thrill, they are filled with a sense of luxury. For in addition to those six familiar herbs, there are dozens more that have real value in a home.
Since our crowded lives these days have limits, it would be foolish to insist that every beginning herbal cook equip herself with dozens of different herbs. It is wiser to say, "Suit your selection to your needs and your space. You can cook with a wealth of savor from plants of those six basic herbs: Mint, Thyme, Sage, Marjoram, Rosemary, and Basil. You can know luxury with what few you can raise in a window garden, or those you can buy dried from your grocer.
It is safe to prophesy however, that the cook who becomes interested at first in cooking with these few will shortly become ambitious in an herbal way, and long for space to grow more herbs for her kitchen. for the love of herbs and their use is a love that grows. Experience shows that it soom expands far beyond the scope of a window garden. In this book we must plan for that expansion. first you shall be introduced to the herbs you will want at the beginning of your career, and to those you will want to add to your garden when you have more space. Then, as extra measure, there will be presented for you the other herbs which are, for the true gardener, "nice to have."
At least two writers have advanced the premise that "thirty herbs will make an herb garden." Looking over my garden and my menus, and picking out those plants most likely to figure in practical cookery, I amend their statement, and say "just six herbs will make you a good cook, while twenty-five herbs will bring you culinary fame." In addition, they will make for you an interesting, well-rounded garden.
Here they are, the twenty-five perfumed handmaidens that will make of you dinners family festivals. Know them. Let them work for you.
ANISE -- Pimpinella anisum - Annual
This herb is one of the most ancient seasonings. It's feathery lengths grew on the shores of Asia Minor, for Theophrastus listed it among the herbs worthy of a second sowing. Charlemagne ordered it for his Imperial garden. Pliny urged that it be suspended near the bed, for it assured the sleeper a youthful look when he arose in the morning. It is easy to foresee a good crop of Anise next year, when this gets around. The uses of Anise are not numerous, but they are important. The green leaves are refreshing addition to salads, for their delicious, piquant flavor spurs the appetite. The seeds are used in pastry and mixed with cottage or other fresh cheeses.
Isn't this just full of information ! See you next time. Tootles
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