Questions tagged [herbs]
Questions about selecting, identifying, storing, preparing, replacing or cooking with herbs as a main ingredient.
193 questions
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Are there methods, techniques, or strategies to use cilantro in warm or hot cooked dishes without having a significant loss of its flavor?
Background:
Specific flavorants of cilantro that impart its distinct and characteristic flavor are well-known to be heat-labile (sensitive to heating where the flavor compounds break down) by chefs.
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What factors cause differences between dried herb/spice brands?
Just bought some sainsburys brand dried ginger and noticed the quality was very different from some batts brand dried ginger which I already had in the cupboard for some time.
The difference in eating ...
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How to measure out fresh herbs when the recipe calls for 'a tablespoon of chopped herb'?
My current method includes taking what I think is the right amount from the plant, chopping it up, and then realizing I either chopped too much (and end up throwing away the excess as it's too little ...
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How can I bring back kafir lime leaves from a dried to a more supple usable state?
Fresh herbs are better. No arguing there. But after several instances of throwing out 4/5 of the batches of kafir lime leaves that I bought fresh because I never get around to them quickly enough, it'...
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How much dried woodruff in vinegar?
Finding potted woodruff plants at the supermarket I took one, dried the sprigs for a few days, and put the leaves in vinegar to steep for 1-2 weeks in the fridge. The strained result would go over ...
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Adding lemongrass to soup: sliced or bashed?
I want to cook lemongrass into a soup that doesn't normally ask for it because I like the way it tastes. So I have to adjust the recipe on my own vs following one. I did some research about how it is ...
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Similarity between cardamom and rosemary
I have noticed a similarity in taste between cardamom and rosemary.
I was wondering if anyone could explain to me, perhaps from the point of view of phenols or chemical components or mixtures or ...
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How to wash dirty herbs in bulk
How do industrial kitchens thoroughly wash all dirt off of fresh herbs in the most efficient way possible (minimizing water use)?
Example: I have 20 kilos of fresh cilantro to wash to make a tomato ...
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How much mg/gr ginger in tea vs how grams in tea infuser [closed]
When creating ginger tea from grated/small parts of ginger it is not clear to me what is the relationship between how much mg/gr are in the tea vs the grams of grated ginger used.
E.g. if using a tea ...
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How much dried herbs to use per portion of tea?
When buying herbal teas in dry form (leaves, ginger, etc) how much are we supposed to use for each serving? Does it depend on the herb?
I am not sure if I should use a full tea spoon or just a couple ...
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Toasting dry rosemary
When I want to flavor my focaccias or bread loaves with spices or herbs, I add them dried to the dough instead of topping the final product before baking. In this way, I don't lose them when I slice ...
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What should fresh fenugreek leaves taste like?
Being a lover of dried fenugreek (methi) in Indian curries, I decided to grow fenugreek leaves. They have the maple-like aroma I expect from the dried leaves and seeds, but the taste was very vegetal ...
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Is sugar in syrup necessary?
I regularly make syrup from herbs (mint, lemon leaf, basil, etc.), usually with the following recipe: 1l water, 500g sugar, boil, let it cool to 70°C, add herbs, let it seep a day, strain it, add ...
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Herb drying question
I picked fresh oregano, rosemary and purple basil. I placed them in a dark room with a oil heater set to high and a oscillating fan blowing is in the room as well. The heat was on for 4 days, then ...
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Is it advisable to cook cilantro or mint leaves and store them, instead of blanching them?
The problem:
The grocer only agrees to give a large bunch of cilantro (coriander) or mint leaves, and I need it to last a month or more, because I don't use the herbs as frequently.
What I've tried ...
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What type of mint in tzatziki?
Most recipes I see for tzatziki often call for dill and/or mint. However none of them ever state which kind of mint is needed, it's always just listed as mint.
So which mint is best for tzatziki? ...
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What to do with a large bag of dried fennel seeds [closed]
I've come into the possession of half a kilo of dried fennel seeds. I don't generally cook with it or have any meal prep ideas that I can add it to... except maybe some sort of pasta sauce? It's too ...
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Do dried peppermint leaves lose flavor quickly in cooking? [duplicate]
I'm trying to figure out at which stage of cooking should I add finely chopped dried pepppermint leaves to get some minty flavor in my cooking...
I tried a few times and all I get is the smell of mint ...
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Is there an organic preservative that I can add to homemade pesto to extend its refrigerated shelf-life?
I have a very large basil crop this year for which I am extremely excited.
In addition to drying and putting that up for myself over the winter, I want to put up pesto for me. I especially want to ...
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Name of an herb or spice that is small, dark spines [closed]
My question is about an herb that my mother used in her spaghetti sauce, and that I did as well using her recipe... And neither of us can remember what it actually was.
I remember the flavor, but ...
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Can I dissolve mint in water and drink it?
I like mint and sometimes put some in a cup of water. My question is can I grind the mint into a fine powder and dissolve it? Maybe if the water is warm? Usually mint like in this pic
just settles on ...
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How to preserve this alcohol free herbal bitter?
I have an alcohol free herbal liquid bitter. The ingredients are:
“Vegetable Glycerin, Purified Water, Astragalus Root, Centaury Aerial Parts, Gentian Root, Ginger Root, Rosemary Leaves, Fennel Seed, ...
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Sage - how much can you eat fresh?
I have just bought a flowerpot of sage - Salvia officinalis.
I know that the leaves can be used for tea. But can they also be eaten fresh, as a snack or as part of the salad? Is there any limit on the ...
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How to prepare and use fresh herbs with woody stems (thyme, oregano) [duplicate]
For quite a while I have wanted to grow a selection of fresh herbs in my kitchen. I have managed to set up that works wonderfully growing my most used herbs but now I’m running into questions about ...
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What is this plant? Is it edible?
I bought a bunch of cilantro today. Some of these leaves were mixed in with the cilantro. What are they? Are they edible?
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What's 香茜 or 芫荽 in English?
Many Hong Kong Cuisine restaurants use 香茜 or 芫荽 in soup dishes. Please see the picture below.
Are 香茜 or 芫荽 the same species of plant?
What's the correct English translation? I'm hankering to buy ...
user91594
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Does putting pandan leaves' stems in water prolong its freshness?
I live in a tropical area where Pandanus amarylliforius is a common cooking ingredient, usually for making rice smell better, or baked into bread. We have a pandan plant in our garden, usually we ...
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Is Virginia creeper safe to eat?
Spring and the Virginia Creeper is growing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenocissus_quinquefolia
It is native to North America, and common. I read on Wikipedia the berries have "dangerous ...
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Parsley stems in chimichurri
There is a lot of weight in the parsley stems and it is therefore tempting to include them in the chimichurri.
I have also seen their use suggested on some sites.
What are the pros and cons?
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How can I use Rosemary bulbs in cooking?
I pulled out a rosemary plant today and found a number of bulbs amongst the root system. Can these be used for cooking, such as with a roast lamb? How?
I also have lots of leaves, so if the bulbs ...
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Do fresh herbs have properties that dried herbs do not?
I previously asked a question on if fresh chilli peppers have properties that ground/dried chlli peppers do not and the answer was the latter would have no oils, aroma, vitamin c etc.
What about the ...
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Do I need to rip the leaves off mint?
I enjoy putting a bunch of mint leaves into my salads, but I'm lazy and I get bored tearing the leaves off the stems to put into my salad. I am tempted to take the entire bunch of mint and chop it up,...
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Is it okay to use these oregano leaves?
I have an Oregano plant and I have rarely used fresh oregano. Is it safe to use the oregano leaves shown in picture?
It has some white thing on top and at the bottom it’s a bit dark
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Why can you not add herbs and spices powder at end?
As far as I'm aware any herb or spice CAN be eaten raw and hence added at the end of cooking.
We cooked a stew with garam masala as we wanted to try something bland. It wasnt very tasteful so I ...
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1946 Horehound Beer recipe - what is "capaicine"?
I was researching Horehound Beer recipes on (the old newspaper website) Trove. I found the name of an ingredient - perhaps a herb, that I did not know: "Capaicine".
As best as I can read, ...
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Are all these ingredients edible?
I'm cooking a Chinese soup base kit that I found in my local Asian supermarket (an amazing place!) But I'm not familiar with the ingredients. As some of them look strange and 'woody' I wanted to check ...
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Can frozen (fresh) flower petals be used in baking the same as unfrozen fresh petals?
I had seen a recipe that calls for fresh flower petals - a dark bread recipe with honey and bright flower petals through it, specifically. I know it wanted fresh petals for the color (dried so often ...
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How can I determine how powerful certain herbs and spices are? Is there a list?
I am trying to determine the relative strength or potency of flavour that comes from different spices and herbs. I often find myself lost when trying to blend recipes since certain spices can be quite ...
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What is the measurable difference between dry basil and fresh?
What is the measurable difference between dry basil and fresh?
Is cooking with fresh herbs different than cooking with dry herbs?
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Freezing or drying "hardy" herbs
I have some decently sized herb plants in my garden. In their respective prime I like to chop and freeze herbs like chives and parsley, while stuff like basil is only really good fresh.
"Hardy" ...
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Should you add specific garden-fresh herbs to a stew at the beginning or the end?
There are several questions about when to add spices and herbs to soup, but this one is more specific. I'm making a stew that is to be thickened with roux. A soupy tomato based soup will be simmered ...
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How to get a good fragrance from burnt rosemary?
There's a particular cocktail I'm trying to produce which has a garnish of burnt fresh rosemary. Properly done, the rosemary is burnt with a torch to release some very fragrant, herbal smoke.
However ...
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Please help identifying this herb
I can’t figure out what herb this is. It tastes kind of bitter!
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What does it mean when adding a little water causes oil to loose its falvour?
I have some oil which tastes one way(due to herbs, spices etc) however when I add even a little water to it the flavor goes. Besides that the water can dilute the flavor it seems more like the ...
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Removing Pesticides from Herbs like Cilantro
Not too long ago I read a study saying that mixing baking soda and water and cleaning your fruits in this solution removed upwards of 90% of the pesticides from them. I was wondering if something like ...
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What is the difference between an herb and a spice?
What is the difference between an herb and a spice?
I would think an herb is from a plant, but then I have no idea what specifically a spice is. Not being much of a cook, they all seem related to me,...
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Drying of basil leaf and other herbs
I often saw my grandma drying basil leaves in direct sunlight by spreading them on a clean cloth for several days. Is this a good method? I feel like placing the herbs in the open air like this will ...
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How do I preserve Tagetes Filifolia?
It's turning to fall, and have a lot of Tagetes Filifolia to preserve. How should I preserve it?
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berberis vulgaris vs berberis aristata
I was reading about zershek (dried berberis vulgaris fruit) in Iran and being Indian , I searched if this is grown in India. I found that berberis aristata is grown in Himalayas and it's fruit is ...
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Fresh spices vs Dried spices
I am new to this community and I have a question in mind.
Spices like garlic , cinnamon etc after drying lose the volatile oil content in them. [HERE, HERE]
Though We see fresh garlic in market ...
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