Vol. XI · Flavour Plate 9 of 12herbs, spices, basil, coriander, thyme, rosemary, bay, whole spices, ground spices, toasting, dried herbs, when to addTF

Herbs and Spices.

Basil stirred into a sauce at the start of an hour's simmer leaves almost nothing behind; a bay leaf has only just begun.

Herbs are leaves; spices are seeds, bark, roots, buds and fruits, usually dried. Their aromas differ in how tightly they are held and how volatile they are (XI.1). Tender herbs — basil, coriander leaf, mint, dill, chives, parsley — keep their aroma in fragile surface glands and lose most of it within minutes of heat: they go in at the end or raw. Woody herbs — thyme, rosemary, bay, sage, oregano — hold theirs in tougher tissue and release it slowly: they go in early and stand long cooking.

Spices follow the same logic by form. Whole spices — cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, cardamom pods, peppercorns — release aroma over tens of minutes and suit braises and stocks (卤水, biryani). Ground spices release at once and fade fast, so they are best ground fresh and added in the last part of cooking or bloomed in fat (XI.8). Toasting whole spices in a dry pan first browns them a little (VIII.1) and deepens their flavour. The workshop simmers six herbs and spices.

Below: the share of each herb's or spice's aroma still in the pot against minutes of simmering, released minus lost (teaching rates), and the amounts left at your time.

What you will learn
Workshop
Teaching model: aroma in the pot = released × kept, with release half-times (fresh leaf herbs 1 min, woody herbs 10 min, ground spice 2 min, whole spice 20 min) and loss half-times (basil 12, coriander 10, thyme 60, bay 120, ground cumin 25, whole star anise 90 minutes). Not measurements of any one herb.

Early, late or at the table

In this model basil gives its best within a couple of minutes (67 % of its aroma in the pot at two minutes) and keeps only 3 % after an hour; a bay leaf is still building after half an hour, peaks near 37 minutes and holds 70 % at the hour. So tender herbs go in at the end or as a garnish, woody herbs and whole spices at the start of a braise, and ground spices bloomed in fat early or added in the last twenty minutes.

Dried herbs are concentrated: about one part dried replaces three parts fresh by volume, and they suit woody herbs (oregano, thyme) far better than tender ones (dried basil and coriander keep little of their character). Buy whole spices and grind small amounts, because ground spices lose aroma in months; store both cool, dark and sealed (IX.4). Toast whole cumin, coriander, Sichuan pepper or fennel in a dry pan until fragrant before grinding. And taste at the end: a long braise can need a final handful of fresh herbs to lift it.

At the stove

Make a small pot of tomato sauce. Add half the basil at the start and simmer twenty minutes; stir the rest in at the end and taste a spoon before and after. The difference is all in the last minute.

Spices drove world history: the search for pepper, cloves and nutmeg sent Portuguese and Spanish fleets round Africa and across the Atlantic in the fifteenth century, and nutmeg was once worth more than its weight in gold in Europe.

Terms

Tender herb
A soft-leaved herb whose aroma is lost quickly to heat, such as basil.
Woody herb
A tough-leaved herb that releases aroma slowly, such as thyme or bay.
Whole spice
A spice used unground, releasing aroma slowly.
Toasting
Heating whole spices dry until fragrant to deepen their flavour.
Tender herbs late, woody herbs and whole spices early, ground spices bloomed or late; one part dried for three fresh.

Sources

  1. A teaching value chosen for the course: the right order of magnitude and shape, not a measurement of a particular food.
  2. H. McGee, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, 2nd ed., Scribner, 2004.