herbsandspices.food The reference guide to herbs and spices

🌿 Herbs

Basil, coriander, thyme, curry leaves and every leaf worth cooking with.

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All 🌿 Fresh (42) 🍂 Dried (18)
Bay leaf Dried
The quiet background note in stocks, stews and custards
Bay leaves come from the bay laurel, an evergreen Mediterranean tree. Used whole in stocks, stews and sauces, they add a subtle herbal, resinous depth and are removed bef…
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Dried epazote Dried
The Mexican bean herb, milder dried, and more often found that way outside Mexico
Dried epazote keeps some of the herb's pungent, resinous, petrol-and-mint flavour, more gently than fresh. It is the usual form outside Mexico, and is at its best in a po…
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Dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) Dried
The crushed finishing herb that gives butter chicken its savoury, maple-like depth
Kasuri methi, dried fenugreek leaves, is bitter-sweet, savoury and maple-scented. Crushed and stirred in at the end, it finishes butter chicken, dal makhani and creamy No…
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Dried hyssop Dried
Bitter, minty and sage-like, bought dried from herbalists more often than grown
Dried hyssop is a bitter, minty, sage-like herb, sold mostly by herbalists and specialist suppliers. Use it sparingly with fatty meats, pulses and stone fruit, or as a te…
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Dried lemon verbena Dried
The soft-leaved herb that dries best, for tea, sugar and infusions
Lemon verbena dries better than almost any other soft-leaved herb, keeping its clean, sherbet-like lemon scent for months. It is sold mainly as a herbal tea, verveine, an…
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Dried makrut lime leaves Dried
A fallback for curries and soups when fresh or frozen leaves cannot be found
Dried makrut lime leaves keep some of the fresh leaf's floral lime scent but lose its brightness. They are a fallback for long-cooked curries and soups; frozen leaves are…
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Dried marjoram Dried
Oregano's gentler, sweeter cousin, and Germany's sausage and potato-soup herb
Dried marjoram is sweet, floral and gently piney, milder than oregano. It is the main form sold, and central to German, Austrian and Polish sausages, potato soups and pul…
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Dried mint Dried
Not a lesser fresh mint but an ingredient of its own, from Istanbul to Tehran
Dried mint is deeper, rounder and less sharply cooling than fresh. Turkish, Persian, Levantine and Greek cooks reach for it on purpose, for soups, yoghurt, meatballs and …
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Dried myrtle Dried
Leaves and berries dried in Sardinia and Corsica, and used like bay and juniper
Dried myrtle leaves are resinous and bay-like, with notes of eucalyptus and orange; the dried berries are closer to juniper. Both flavour Sardinian and Corsican meats, st…
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Dried rosemary Dried
Strong, piney and needle-sharp: crumble it, grind it, or leave it whole to lift out
Dried rosemary keeps most of its piney, camphor-like flavour but the needles stay hard and spiky. Crush or grind it for rubs and long-cooked dishes, and use a light hand:…
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Dried sage Dried
Rubbed, ground or whole: the flavour of British stuffing and American Thanksgiving
Dried sage is stronger, mustier and more resinous than fresh. Sold whole, rubbed or ground, it is the taste of sage and onion stuffing, pork sausages and long-cooked bean…
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Dried savory Dried
The bean herb, more often dried than fresh, from Newfoundland to Bulgaria
Dried summer savory is the usual form of this peppery, thyme-like herb. It seasons beans and pulses, Bulgarian chubritsa dishes and Newfoundland dressing, and dries easil…
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Dried sweet woodruff Dried
The herb that only smells of hay and vanilla once it has wilted or dried
Sweet woodruff has little scent fresh; its hay-and-vanilla aroma of coumarin develops as it wilts and dries. Dried woodruff flavours May wine, teas, syrups and creams, in…
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Dried thyme Dried
The dried herb that loses least, and the backbone of a dozen blends
Thyme dries better than almost any herb, keeping its warm, savoury, thymol-rich flavour. It is the base of herbes de Provence, Italian seasoning and Cajun blends, and ide…
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Lavender Dried
The fragrant herb that belongs in the kitchen, sparingly
Lavender is a Mediterranean shrub of the mint family whose flowers bring a floral, resinous note to shortbread, honey, custards and lamb. Use culinary English lavender, i…
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Mugwort Dried
The bitter wayside herb of German roast goose and Asian rice cakes
Mugwort is a tall, hardy perennial of the daisy family with a bitter, sage-like aroma. It is the traditional herb for German roast goose, and related Artemisia species co…
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Oregano Dried
The pizza herb, and one of the few better dried than fresh
Oregano is a hardy Mediterranean perennial whose leaves taste warm, peppery and slightly bitter. Unusually, it is often better dried. Greek oregano is the strongest; Mexi…
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Pennyroyal Fresh or dried
A pungent little mint with a Portuguese kitchen and a toxic oil
Pennyroyal is a small, creeping European mint with a sharp, minty, camphor-like flavour, used in Portuguese bread soups and Spanish teas. Its essential oil is dangerously…
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