Herbs In Cooking
Are Herbs Cooking for You!
Strolling through aisle of the local supermarket, one can’t help but be amazed at the varied amount of products that profess to have captured the essence of some fragrant herb in order to promote a sense of well being.
The tea section which years ago displayed only our favourite blends for that perfect cuppa, is now awash with herbal teas. Mixtures of fruits with herbs or just a combination of herbs, hinting, as much as they dare, at the therapeutic possibilities. Yes- even Posh Spice has her cup of herbal tea in order to maintain her trendy figure- so what more do you want? Perhaps for those of you who don’t get that “ah” feeling with herbal teas, introducing herbs to your cooking could be an alternative, well worth investigating.
Some would argue that there isn’t a sufficient quantity in cooking to give a therapeutic action. If you can taste it, what are you tasting if not the constituents of that plant? Perhaps the therapeutic action might not be as strong as an herbal prescription or over-the-counter products, but don’t underestimate their value. Please can I just say, should a herb be potentially of benefit for you or your family, we are talking about cooking with small quantities not medicinal doses, one to two teaspoons in a dish, not great handfuls – everything in sensible moderation. To start off our stroll down the physic garden the first stop has to be basil:
Basil: Ocimum basilicum Available in over 150 varieties, the common basil or sweet basil is by far the most popular. Once believed to ease the pain of a scorpion’s sting and in Roman times to relieve flatulence from excessive eating. In Ireland, we don’t worry too much about scorpions; but flatulence? Basil is a useful digestive aid helping to ease stomach cramping, indigestion and, yes, – flatulence. Also in times of anxiety and restlessness, basil has shown to be a mild sedative, assisting with the promotion of sleep. The leaves contain vola
tile oils, linalool and methylchavicol, and whether you tear or chop the leaves, the oils burst into the air with a wonderful pungent aroma. So maximise the benefits of the oils, by adding the leaves just before serving a dish. Leaving basil in cooking for any length of time, for me, loses its magic.
The question, however, remains; do you chop or do you tear the leaves? And if you chop, will a handsome chef leap into your kitchen and give you guidance? Sadly, I’ve chopped for hours and no chef -leaping or otherwise! The consensus of opinion is that the flavour remains stronger within the leaf if you tear.
Basil can be used in salads, soups, sauces, particularly pasta sauces, or just on pasta with a knob of butter with some Parmesan cheese. A great starter or as a side dish, is a bed of sliced tomatoes, chopped Feta or Mozzarella cheese, a generous pour of extra virgin olive oil, grated sea salt and torn basil leaves. So refreshing!
Rosemary: Rosmarinus officinalis – “dew of the sea”
In the Shakespearian play Hamlet, Ophelia says “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance”. Why, because the volatile oils within rosemary leaves contain borneol, camphene and camphor and it is the action of these oils that makes rosemary a stimulant. They enhance the circulation of the blood around the body, including the brain. The effect of increased blood flow to the brain can help with relief for minor headaches. Another interesting property of the herb is to stimulate the production of bile flow. Bile is important in the digestive process, as one of its actions is to assist with the breakdown and elimination of fats. It was the Romans who brought basil to Britain and Ireland and the Italians love to make sauté potatoes cooked in olive oil and rosemary sprinkled with sea salt and ground pepper. W
hen roasting lamb or chicken, sprigs of rosemary around the meat enhance the flavour so well and unlike basil, rosemary seems to intensify through the cooking process to give a wonderful aroma.
Sage Salvia Officinalis
Sage comes from the Latin salvere – “to be saved”, and is a highly underrated herb that has so many medicinal properties. It has a strong aromatic flavour and can be overwhelming, so you either like it or you don’t. We are all very familiar with ubiquitous sage and onion stuffing at Christmas, alas poor old sage is then shelved for another year. Containing the essential oil thujone, sage is a hormonal balancer used during the menopause for the reduction of hot flushes. Studies have indicated that the properties of this herb may prove useful in treating the onset of Alzheimer’s and also there are indications that it is an anti-oxidant. So in cooking, how can it be used other than in stuffings? Traditionally it can be used as part of a bouquet garni for stews and casseroles, but also sprinkled sparingly on fish and oily meats such as goose, duck and pork, gives the dish a distinctive flavour.
Onion: Allium cepa
I know I can hear the shrieks as far away as Castletownbear “onion is a vegetable, not a herb”. True enough, it is a vegetable, but it is also a medicinal plant. It is a member of the Allium genus together with medicinal plants such as garlic, chives, shallots and leeks, just to name a few. What they all have in common is that they contain the sulphur containing compound allicin and alliin, which are anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-platelet (helps thin the blood), and much more.
Onion has to be the one medicinal plant that is so widely used in cooking. Dishes such as delicious French onion soup, quiches, onion gravy, in omelettes, in salads – well one could simply go on and on. So good for you in so many ways.
However, Will Shakespeare had some misgivings about onions. In Midsummer night’s dream, we hear the words “ eat no onions, nor garlic, for we are to utter sweat breath”, but he obviously didn’t know that onions and garlic are aphrodisiacs!
Sabina Jennings is a medical herbalist and Iridologist who specialises in Natural Dermatology
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