Dill is a feathery annual of the carrot family with a sweet, grassy, faintly aniseed flavour. Fronds flavour fish, potatoes and yoghurt from Scandinavia to Iran; the flower heads go into cucumber pickles.
What it is¶
Dill is a tall, fast-growing annual with hollow stems, fine, thread-like blue-green leaves and flat umbels of small yellow flowers. It gives two ingredients: the fresh fronds (sold dried in the US as "dill weed") and the ripe fruits sold as dill seed, which taste closer to caraway. The flower heads, gathered as the seeds begin to form, have the strongest flavour of all and are the "dill" of dill pickles.
Dill looks similar to the fronds of fennel, a close relative, but fennel's leaves are usually greener and taste more clearly of aniseed.
Origins and history¶
Dill has been cultivated since antiquity in the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia; it is mentioned in Egyptian medical texts and was familiar to the Greeks and Romans. The English name is often said to derive from Old Norse dilla, "to lull", because it was given to settle babies — an etymology that is repeated widely but not well supported.
Dill became a pillar of Scandinavian, Baltic, Russian, Polish, Ukrainian and Jewish Ashkenazi cooking, and it was prominent in medieval European herbals (see herbals-and-herbalists). It is equally at home further east: Iranian and Afghan cooks use it by the bunch, and it appears in Indian cooking as sowa or shepu and in northern Vietnamese dishes.
Flavour and aroma¶
Fresh dill is sweet, grassy and cleanly aromatic, with a hint of lemon, a little aniseed and a slight bitterness in the stems. Much of its distinctive character comes from a compound called dill ether and from alpha-phellandrene. The aroma is volatile and fades quickly with heat and drying: dried dill weed is a pale echo, though still useful in dips and dressings. Seeds and flower heads are sharper and more caraway-like.
In the kitchen¶
- Scandinavia: gravlax, cured with salt, sugar and dill; new potatoes with butter and dill; crayfish boiled with dill crowns in Sweden; mustard-dill sauce (hovmästarsås).
- Eastern Europe: borscht, dill-spiked soured cream, cucumber salads, potato dishes, and cucumbers fermented in brine with dill heads, garlic and horseradish leaves.
- Greece and Türkiye: spanakopita and other greens pies, stuffed vine leaves, courgette fritters, some tzatziki.
- Iran: sabzi polo (herbed rice, with fish at Nowruz) and baghali polo (rice with broad beans and dill). See persian-cuisine.
- India: sowa or shepu cooked with lentils or potatoes.
- Vietnam: chả cá Lã Vọng, Hanoi's turmeric fish, finished with masses of dill and spring onion.
Chop dill finely with a sharp knife and add it at the end, or stir it into cold sauces.
💡 Pickle heads
For fermented or vinegar pickles, use whole dill heads with some stem, one or two per litre jar. Dill seed makes a decent stand-in if you have no heads.
Buying and storing¶
Dill wilts quickly. Wrap it loosely in damp paper towel, put it in a bag or box and refrigerate; use within four or five days. It freezes well: chop and freeze in a bag or box, then use straight from frozen in soups, sauces and potatoes. Dried dill weed loses its aroma within months.
Substitutes¶
Fennel fronds are the nearest match, a little more aniseed. tarragon or chervil give a similar freshness with fish and eggs. In pickles, use dill seed or a little caraway. parsley with lemon zest offers greenness if nothing else is available.
Pairs well with¶
Salmon, trout, herring, shellfish, potatoes, cucumber, beetroot, broad beans, eggs, yoghurt, soured cream, lemon, mustard, garlic, horseradish, parsley, chives and mint.
Growing your own¶
Sow dill direct, in sun and fertile, moist but well-drained soil, from April to July; it has a long taproot and bolts quickly when transplanted. Sow in short rows every three or four weeks for a continuous supply, and thin to about 20 cm. Water in dry spells, since drought makes it run to flower.
Stake tall plants in exposed gardens. Do not grow dill next to fennel: the two cross-pollinate, and saved seed produces muddled offspring. Leave a few plants to flower for pickling heads, seed and the hoverflies and other beneficial insects that visit the umbels. Dill often self-seeds.