Against the grain, part 1: fresh herbs

[godito]

Couple of points, here, just my feelings on the subject:

1. Once, a line cook told me that if you were to overcook tuna, might as well buy the canned variety. It's cheaper. True, if your fresh herbs are crap, use the dry ones and get a better finished product

2. Sometimes it's better to modify your recipe if you can't find quality products. For a while, we couldn't find any basil here during the winter months, so I just gave up on my highly acclaimed (well, by my family anyways) tomato-basil sauce. We have dried herbs for the same reason we have dried tomatos, to use when the fresh product is not available (mainly do to seasonality)

3. This is a personal note. I first look at what fresh ingredients I do have on hand, and plan my dishes according to them.

[Behemoth]

I had this conversation with someone on eG a while back. In Lebanese cooking obviously fresh herbs are very important (e.g. tabbouli and all those springs of fresh mint everywhere) but certain dishes call specifically for dried herbs: Tomato sauce always takes dried mint because you need an intense flavor without the soggy leaf texture. Dried thyme in zaatar for the mann'ouch (sort of a pizza), again because you want the intense flavor without the texture. They even prefer dried mint in their chopped salad, and I must admit it tastes great. Some herbs dry well and some don't, some dishes are better with dried herbs, some better with fresh. Not better or worse, just different.

[Shalmanese]

I've found infused and ice-packed herbs to be a much better alternative to dried herbs in some instances when fresh herbs are unavailable. Quickly blanch some herbs in boiling water and then shock in ice water. You can either dry very well and then blend with oil for infused herbs or chop finely and place in ice-cube trays and fill with water and freeze for ice-packed herbs.

Despite what I've read about infused herbs, I once lost a jar of basil & garlic oil in the back of my fridge for over a year and it had barely lost any of it's fresh basil flavour. Ice-packed herbs are perfect for putting in something like pasta sauce where you want the leaves to remain intact.

Hardier herbs like rosemary can just be frozen like some people have mentioned.

[Fat Guy]

Part 2: why I like to eat early.

[Adam Balic]

I wasn't aware that the majority view was that fresh herbs are better then dried at all times. The people that are likley to have an opinion are surely aware of the of the difference between the flavour profiles of dried oregano and fresh and that both are good products?

Aside from the varible quality of dried herbs, there is also the same issue with dried. Dried oregano is a fantastic store item, but on at least one occasion, what looked like a excellent buy turned out to be about useful as straw as it had been freeze dried (I think) and had no flavour.

[Wolfert]

I'm a big fan of dried Egyptian spearmint leaves with its incredible unique flavor

In some of my Turkish recipes I add it along with a bit of finely ground black pepper to hot oil or butter in order to make one of those lovely black swirls on yogurt enriched soups or stews. Kalustyans has it and it seems to keep for years in a closed jar.

Another favorite is herbes de Provence. or the Languedocian herbes de la garrigue which combines dried lavender, sage, savory, thyme and fennel.

Either one can be sprinkled over olive oil brushed slices of bread and roasted. I use these croutes in salads or as a coaster for goat cheese.

Adam: there are many different varieties of oregano in the market and some have zilch taste. In the states there is a Mexican oregano which tastes totally different from the Mediterranean variety and can easily screw up any kebab recipe. I purchase Greek oregano from a Middle Eastern market that has a large turnover . Even better, when I travel east I buy some from locals and dry it on my bedroom window sill before bringing it home.

I sprinkle dried oregano on kebabs before and after grilling for a double flavor hit.

Edited December 1, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[Fat Guy]

Speaking of double hits, the best mint tea I ever had consisted of a combination of fresh mint leaves, dried mint leaves and (dried of course) black tea leaves. I guess that's a triple hit.

[Adam Balic]

Adam: there are many different varieites of oregano in the market and some  have zilch taste. In the states there is a Mexican oregano which tastes totally different from the Mediterranean variety and can easily screw up any kebab recipe. I purchase Greek oregano from a Middle Eastern market that has a large turnover . Even better, when I travel east I buy some from locals and dry it on my bedroom window sill before bringing it home.

I sprinkle dried oregano on kebabs before and after grilling for a double flavor hit.

←

Paula - I was refe ring a Spanish import, but I think that it was more of a question of processing then variety. I have some of the Mexican type (dried) and like this very much, and also the Mediterranean types obtained when in Greece and Sicily (both are similar in flavour profile).

Do you know if the marjoram that is used to flavour many of the sausages/blood puddings is fresh or dried? What ever it is, it is really good stuff.

[Adam Balic]

I do think that some herbs are not as successful when dried (or traditionally dried, maybe they would be better with new technology). Rosemary would be my prime example.

[Wolfert]

I don't know about the marjoram but I suspect is is dried.

I'm so pleased you reminded me of the Spanish variety of thyme called pebrella. I purchased some in the Valencian market and it was dynamite for flavoring home brined green olives. Here in the States, the Spanish Table sells it.

Adam: there are many different varieites of oregano in the market and some  have zilch taste. In the states there is a Mexican oregano which tastes totally different from the Mediterranean variety and can easily screw up any kebab recipe. I purchase Greek oregano from a Middle Eastern market that has a large turnover . Even better, when I travel east I buy some from locals and dry it on my bedroom window sill before bringing it home.

I sprinkle dried oregano on kebabs before and after grilling for a double flavor hit.

←

Paula - I was refe ring a Spanish import, but I think that it was more of a question of processing then variety. I have some of the Mexican type (dried) and like this very much, and also the Mediterranean types obtained when in Greece and Sicily (both are similar in flavour profile).

Do you know if the marjoram that is used to flavour many of the sausages/blood puddings is fresh or dried? What ever it is, it is really good stuff.

←

[Adam Balic]

Bugger, the last time I was in Spain I bought a bunch of random herbs, but this one wasn't one of them. A different species to regular thyme ("Tomillo" ( Thymus vulgaris) v "Pebrella" (Thymus piperella)) it seems.

Edited December 1, 2005 by Adam Balic (log)

[rancho_gordo]

Mexican Oregano is a different family than Euro-Oregano. I'm sure the Spanish were just being lazy when they arrived in the New World. Actually there are several regional oreganos, all new world ,and only vaguely related to actual oregano.

It's pretty strong dried and has a citrus and nutty flavor. When we bag it, the smell can be pretty overwhelming despite how much I like it.

Toasting it right before using it is a great idea.