The Importance of Herbs
In many ways herbs are the poor relation of the spices mostly because so many commonly-used herbs are found growing in all our gardens. Whereas spices were expensive commodities that needed to be imported over long distances from far-away climes herbs (in soome form or other) were commonly available to all. Which is not to say that certain dried herbs aren't expensive (though these, like saffron, tend to be classed as spices). But in the absence of spices herbs are one of the few ways of flavouring food and even today herbs remain the mainstay of many dishes (most notably fish dishes).
What is a Herb?
By definition a herb is any herbaceous part of a plant. This means any combination of the stems the leaves and the flowers. Basically those parts of a plant that live above ground (in contrast the roots of a plant if used as a flavouring are generally considered as spices, as are the seeds and fruit of a plant). The list below therefore describes as many parts of a plant as possible if they are used (either fresh or dried) as a food flavouring.
There will be many herbs that you will find familiar here and hopefully there will be a number that you have not heard of before. The aim of this guide is to open your eyes (and your culinary skills) to the wealth of plants and plant parts that can be used to enhance the flavours of many dishes. If you come away from reading this guide with a new appreciation for the herbs that are avialable to your kitchen then I believe that my work in generating this page has, to a great extent, been vindicated.
It should be recalled that the definition of 'herb' is relatively modern and in more ancient times the lines between herbs and spices were often blurred and a 'spice' seems to have been defined mare as anything that bore a strong aroma. Thus herbs, spices and incense could all come under the label 'spice'; mainly because they were not perishable and could be tarnsproted for many months with little loss of pungency. A herb, in contrast was a flavouring that could be picked fresh from the garden and used in a dish.
The glory days of herbs were in the Middle Ages and the Tudor era where herbs were an essential part of any apothecary's garden and both monks and physicians would grow herbs more for their medicinal than their culinary value (though this did not preclude these herbs from being used for the pot!). It was only during the 18th century with the advent of the modern cookery book that herbs came back into vogue for their culinary value and today a well-stocked herb and spice rack is an essential for any serious cook's kitchen.
Using this Guide
To use this guide simply click on the first letter of the herb that you're looking for (above or below). This will take you to a table of all the herbs that begin with that letter where you can chose the herb you want. There are over 50 herbs in his guide so far, including common and rare herbs and herbs used in cuisines from around the world, and you can search by common name and scientific name.
You can also use the search box below to find the herb of your choice. You can use the common name or the scientific name or any text you choose:
Just so you know what to expect, each time you refresh this page you will get a random herb displayed below. This is exactly the same kind of information as displayed on the main herb pages, which you can navigate through using the links above and below:
Pandan Leaves
Pandanus, Pandanus amaryllifolius (also known as Pandanus odorus, Pandanus latifolius, Umbrella tree, Screw pine and Screw tree) a member of the Pandanaceae (screw pine) family. It is an erect dioecious (with male and female flowers produced on different plants) with fan-shaped sprays of long, narrow, bladelike leaves and woody aerial roots. This plant is widely cultivated in south-east Asia for their leaves which are used as a flavouring in cooking. The leaves are always used fresh, but slightly withered, as they only develop their intense scent on withering (indeed, fresh leaves have almost no odour). The scent of pandan leaves has been described as essentially mutty, but with the overtones of fresh-mown hay that lends a certain sweetness. It is somewhat reminiscent of the scent of Thai Jasmine rice, but much richer.
Pandanus amaryllifolius hardy ever produces flowers and is not known in the wild, but the cultivar is distributed over Southern India, peninsular South East Asia, Indonesia and Western New Guinea. Indeed, the only known instances of flowering in Pandanus amaryllifolius was reported from the Moluccas archipelago, and it is plausible that the species evolved there. Pandan leaves are commonly employed for Singhalese curries in Sri Lanka (often together with curry leaves) and they are used occasionally in Southern India. However, the most intensive usage is in south-east Asia especially Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia where the leaves are valued as they enhance the flavour of rice. Pandanus leaves can also be used as fragrant wrappers for cooking other foods such as rice, chicken and fish. The leaves are also commonly used in desserts especially in sweet puddings or custards based on the use of glutinous rice. For many of these recipes, however, pandan leaf essence is often used (and can be bought in good Asian supermarkets). However, this essence is invariably bright green in colour as a food dye is added. This works well in desserts but does not lend itself for spicy dishes. Unfortunately dried pandan leaf has no flavour at all and fresh leaves have to be used.
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Further Reading
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