of gluten, soy, and all those binders, fillers and just plain hard to say ingredients. I needed to find organic, and free from possible irritant chemical ingredients that are used in processing and in non-organic food-producing growing practices: all inflammatory ingredients I was trying to avoid.
But back in my kitchen cabinet were mixes I had made from herbs in my garden. Aha, so what I was already doing (making herbal vinegars, oils, seasoning salts) suddenly widened into something really important: bringing healthy, natural flavors to the forefront of my everyday food enjoyment. I focused like a laser on finding and developing herbal recipes that are high in flavor but not in unnecessary, possibly inflammatory ingredients.
Where does all this feed into what you are reading? On the list of good things that I could have as much of as I wanted was – yes – herbs! Fresh, unprocessed, organic ingredients and flavor enhancers that were without things that triggered my multiple sensitivities. It was a real revelation – to not give up on flavor, just give up foods and additives that were making me unhealthy. Here is a journey for you, too. Whatever your sensitivities are, you can tailor flavor to make your own food better.
WHAT’S INSIDE:
In these pages you’ll find all you need to know about 20 of the most commonly used and flavor-rich herbs: how to grow them (easy!), the best varieties to choose, what parts to use – plus essential information and tips throughout. I’ll take you step-by-simple-step through harvesting and preserving the herbs and capturing all those precious flavors.
And, as promised, there are the recipes! Over 100, showing you how to flavor, mix, mingle and blend herb flavors into almost any meal, from finger foods, main dishes and desserts to infused teas, wines and botanical cocktails.
The big takeaway: You become a creator of flavors. A master of blends. An infusion maven. You deepen your relationship with the plants you bring to your table and the garden that produces them (even if it’s only a sunny windowsill or a balcony). You enrich your appreciation of the way Mother Nature gives us not only food to sustain us and keep us healthy, but flavors that give us pleasure and joy. It’s a win-win partnership.
I wish you a wonderful adventure into the rich, exciting world of herbs.
https://herbloversgarden.com/
TASTE
the Mixology of Flavor and Food
Is food love or is it necessity? Food is simple. It’s fuel for your body, of course. But because of the twists and turns in the personality of taste it becomes a higher subject matter. It’s personal, it’s emotional – even controversial. Just search the internet for diets…no sugar, no carbs, paleo, you know all the names of eating plans. It’s a firestorm of information. It could leave anyone at a loss about what to eat. Is it bad or good? Why do I sometimes crave bad things, but wait – which diet says which food, fat, sugar, etc., is bad or good? No wonder eating plans and diets are such a huge billion dollar industry.
Now, stop for a minute, eat a fresh apple from the garden or a sun-ripened cucumber. It’s pure and fresh and based solely on nature’s own flavorings. We like to eat food when it tastes good – bottom line. It’s satisfying and fills some inner need, whether it’s emotional or to regulate our blood sugar. But it tastes good and that’s the point.
MYSTERIOUS MIXOLOGY
Why do some foods taste better after we season them? It comes down to the natural mixology of combining scent and taste. Take any recipe for a main dish and note the ingredients. It typically begins with a main ingredient like a meat or a vegetable. The next things listed in the recipe are about adding flavor: the salt, the pepper, the spices. The flavor mix becomes important to that main ingredient, turning something ordinary into a culinary delight. Otherwise it is just a simple cut of meat or a plain vegetable. When fragrant, flavorful ingredients are added they begin to meld and mingle and create aroma. It gets your taste buds watering for a bite.
THE SCIENCE OF TASTE
Oh, those crazy taste buds. This reminds me of biology class in grade school. There was a big drawing of a tongue divided into sections, showing bitter taste bud receptors in the back, sour and salt receptors on the sides and sweet in the front. I remember thinking about it when I tried to swallow a nasty-flavored medicine: Just get it past the taste buds in the back (or sides), then I don’t have to taste it. It didn’t always work. Since then, that old theory of the taste map has been debunked by studies showing that the quality of taste is not restricted to any single area of the tongue, but that all areas of the mouth contain sensors for all kinds of taste. With that understanding, it’s even more important to know how we mix flavors together so they are desirable – so when food hits those different receptors it’s pure mixology.
The taste of food is about the blending of sweet, sour, salty and bitter in ways that stimulate our taste buds. So how do we approach seasoning food? Interesting question with no right or wrong answer. It is more about an individual taste on the tongue. People perceive flavor differently. My taste is different from yours. I don’t like spicy heat; I feel it deadens how food tastes in my mouth – yet I know some who say the hotter the chili pepper or spice in a dish, the better. That’s fine. There’s room in the flavoring universe for everyone.
PLANT-BASED SEASONINGS
To season food, you need to use a mix of herbs and spices balanced with other elements like oil or vinegar that can be added to a dish to enhance the flavor. Note the word enhance; not overpower, change or replace, but enhance. It’s adding something to ordinary food to make it taste yummy, or yummier. In our craving for something to eat, it is usually the seasoning that you are craving – the lemon, the pepper, the salt: the seasoning. And it’s how we flavor ordinary food that can be as exciting as the main dish we cook.
When you make your own mixes, you are the quality control expert. Growing and harvesting herbs from your garden gives you control over freshness of the ingredients. You control the source. Blending your own seasonings also allows you to choose ingredients to meet dietary needs like gluten-free, sugar-free or salt restricted. Once you grow and use your own herbs you will never look at store-bought the same way again. Realistically, though, you probably won’t be growing every herb or spice mentioned in this book, so for seasoning ingredients that you do purchase, choose sustainably sourced and organic ingredients; they will give you the highest quality and best flavor.
Start in the garden. Grow your favorite herbs. Grow them because you like the flavor, then let your taste buds be your guide. Get up-close and personal with the plants in your garden, their flavors and fragrance. Take a leaf…taste it, smell it, rub the leaf until the oils release on your fingers. You quickly learn to recognize the flavor personality of each one: the pungent herbs like rosemary, where a little measure of fresh rosemary as seasoning goes a long way – or the subtler herbs like marjoram that will smell slightly sweet, yet distinct, like its close relative oregano. Marjoram is so subtle that you will find it in recipes where other spices and herbs won’t overpower it. All those aromatics connect back to flavor.
GET TO KNOW THE FLAVOR OF HERBS
In basic recipes that call for a specific herb, you might want to experiment or add more unique flavorings. The best way to do that is to become familiar with the taste and how it blends with other things. The following is a sampler of herbs you are probably already familiar with. How