Adding Flavor: Popular Herbs for Cooking

As someone who is fairly new to cooking, I like to make recipes that are fairly straightforward. But in a relatively short period of time, I have learned that you can add a lot of flavor to your cooking with herbs.

Fresh or Dried Herbs?

When it comes to cooking, both fresh and dried herbs will make a world of difference in your dishes. Most chefs prefer fresh over dried, but for practical reasons, dried herbs will work just fine. There are also companies that make frozen herbs for cooking. You keep the plastic bottle in your freezer, and just shake out what you need for your dish; the herbs quickly defrost in whatever you are making.

In my kitchen, I keep dried herbs on hand at all times, but grow fresh herbs in the summer, and will purchase fresh herbs for cooking when I am making a dish that calls for more than just a pinch. One thing to remember: when cooking with herbs, 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped herbs is roughly equivalent to 1 teaspoon of dried herbs.

What Herbs Should I Have on Hand?

When you are setting up your kitchen, there are several herbs you should make sure you have on hand. These are the herbs used most frequently in cooking, and will complement most dishes you make. The most usually used herbs for cooking are:

• parsley,
• oregano,
• thyme,
• basil,
• rosemary,
• chives,
• and cilantro.

Parsley is a kitchen basic, and is often used as a base flavor in cooking and as a garnish. It is readily available fresh in grocery stores, and blends well with other herbs. Many Italian recipes will call for a handful of parsley to be added at the end of cooking. Another commonly used herb for Italian cooking is basil. It has a sweet flavor, and is delicious fresh in tomato sauces and salads.

Thyme, oregano, and rosemary are often used herbs for cooking meats and fishes. They also can be added to sauces. While all can be easily grown and used fresh, they are most frequently used in recipes dried.

Chives are an herb that is not used dried, but always fresh or frozen. Maybe most popular for topping a baked potato, chives had a slight onion flavor, and are often added to soft cheeses and salads.

Finally, cilantro is the most usually used herb in Mexican cooking. It is related to coriander (coriander is the seeds of the cilantro plant) and can be sprinkled in salads as well as into most Mexican recipes.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 10:25 am and is filed under For Cooking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.