Herb Guide and Definitions

This is a listing of many but not all of the popular herbs and spices used in culinary preparations. Use this as a guide to seasoning and a quick reference for plant information. I hope it will make you a better cook. For the chef who is also a gardener, much joy and the reward of having "fresh" ingredients to cook with can be attained by having a garden growing with some of your favorites. An herb garden can very easily be grown in several flower pots on a window sill as easily as it can in the expanse of a country garden.

Note * In the type column (a) means annual, (b) means bi-annual and (p) means perennial.

Name	Bot. Name	Type	How to Use	Available
Allspice	pimenta	tree	cakes, cookies, stews of beef, pork and game	d
Angelica	angelica archangelica	a	confectioneries	candied
Anise	pimpinella anisum	a	soups, sauces, cookies(licorice flavor) use mostly the seeds	d
Annatto	bixa orellana	tree	sauces, coloring foods, especially cheese	dried seeds
Balm, Lemon	melissa officinalis	p	tea, drinks, salads, fish, chicken	f, d
Basil	ocimum baslicum	a	breads, pasta, salads, all meats, vegetables, eggs	f, d, frozen
Basil, Lemon	ocimum citriodora	a	breads, pasta, salads, all meats, vegetables, eggs	f, d, frozen
Basil, Ruffled	ocimum crispum	a	breads, pasta, salads, all meats, vegetables, eggs	f, d, frozen
Bay Leaf	laurus nobilis	p	soups, stews, sauces, rice dishes (evergreen tree)	f, d frozen
Borage	borage officinalis	a	salads, soups, drinks (cucumber like flavor) blossoms as garnish	f
Burnet	sanguisorba minor	p	cool flavor similar to a cucumber, salads and drinks	f
Chamomile	anthemis nobilis	p	tea, sauces	f, d
Camphor Tree	cinnamomum camphora	tree	tea, bark used for smoking foods, (camphor smoked duck) in Chinese cuisine	d
Capers	unopened buds of the caper bush	bush	sauces, cold roast meat, condiment, smoked seafood	f, d, pickled
Caraway	carum carvi	b	salads, soups, sauces, stews, roasts, breads, kummel and aquavit liqueur (used seeds and fresh green leaves) usually not with fish	f, d
Cardamom	elettaria cardamomum	p	other spice blends, cookies, coffee, candies, (use seeds)	d
Catnip	nepeta cataria	p	tea	f, d
Cayenne	capsicum minimum	a	all dishes, a dried powder of ground hot peppers	d
Celery	apium graveolens dulce	a	vegetable, salads, soups, sauces, roasts, stews, all meats and fish	f, canned
Celery Seed	apium graveolens	a	seeds taste like fresh celery, does not come from regular celery but from cultivated "wild celery" soups, sauces, dressings	D
Chervil	anthriscus cerefolium	a	slight licorice flavor; salads, soups, fish dishes	f, d
Chili Powder	spice blend		a blend of dried ancho chile, oregano, cumin, and cloves or allspice; soups, salads, all meats, fish, vegetables, eggs, cheese, sauces	d
Chives	allium schoenoprasum	bulb	soups, salads, meats, fish, condiments, eggs, cheese, blossoms as a garnish	f, d, freeze-dried
Chives, Garlic	allium tuberosom	bulb	soups, salads, meats, fish, condiments, eggs, cheese, blossoms as a garnish, (stronger in flavor than regular chives)	f, d
Cicely. Sweet	myrrhis odorata	p	licorice taste, salads, liqueurs (use seeds and leaves), desserts	f, d
Cilantro, Chinese Parsley, Fresh Coriander	coriandrum sativum	a	soups, chutney, fish, chicken, used in curry, Middle Eastern, Spanish, Southwestern, and Oriental cooking	f, d
Cinnamon	cinnamomum cassia	tree	baking, stews, other spice blends, court bouillon, pickling, chutney, relishes (powdered or sticks), drinks (spiced cider)	d
Clary	salvia sclarea	b	type of sage, salads, fritters, beer, eggs, stuffing	f, d
Clove	eugenia caryophyllata	tree	baking, desserts, sauces, soups, stews, meats, court bouillon, pickles, spice blends, (unopened bud of the evergreen clove tree)	d
Coriander	coriandrum sativum	a	salads, sauces, fish dishes, chicken dishes, oriental, South western, Spanish and middle eastern cuisine	f, d
Costmary	chrysanthemum balsamita	p	teas; camphor, mint-like fragrance, poultry, baking	f, d
Crocus, Saffron	crocus sativus	p	soups, sauces, fish and chicken dishes	d
Cumin	cuminum cyminum	a	other spice blends, (dried seeds)	d
Curry Powder	spice blend		a blend of cloves, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, cardamom, fenugreek, coriander, mace, white pepper	d
Dandelion	taraxacum officinale	p	salads, wine, cooked as a vegetable	f
Dill	anethum graveolens	a	salads, sauces, soups, pickles, dips, use with fish and vegetables	f, d
Dill Seed	anethum graveolens	a	use like dill leaves, the blossoms may be used as a garnish	f, d
Fennel Flower	nigella sativa	a	desserts, fritters, garnish	f
Fennel Seeds	foeniculum vulgare	a	sauces, sausage, pork roasts	d
Fennel, Common	foeniculum vulgare	a	soups, salads, sauces, (seeds are used most often, see above)	f
Fennel, Italian	foeniculum vulgare piperitum	a	salads	f
Fennel, Sweet	foeniculum vulgare dulce	a	seeds used in sauces, soups, pasta (cooked vegetable)	d
Fenugreek	trigonella foenumgraecum	a	member of the pea family, burnt sugar taste, used in spice blends, curry powder, pickling spice, chutney	d
Filé	sassafras	tree	powdered leaves used to thicken gumbo's	d
Garlic	allium sativum	bulb	used in everything except desserts	f, d, frozen, pickled
Geraniums Rose	pelargonium graveolens	p	desserts, jellies, oils (leaves have a rose-like aroma) leaves as a garnish	f
Ginger	zingiber officinale	root	baking, desserts, soups, salads, vegetables, meats, poultry, fish; just about everything	f, d, preserved, powdered
Ginger, Wild	asarum canadense	root	grows throughout the Northeast, not as flavorful as cultivated ginger, leaves are different as well	f
Horehound	marrubium vulgare	p	tea, candy, in beer makes horehound ale	f, d
Horseradish	armoracia apathifolia	root	sauces, salads, sandwiches, condiment	f, d
Hyssop	hyssopus officinalis	p	liqueurs, ice cream; tarragon/rosemary/mint-like flavor, fish, duck	f
Juniper Berries	juniperus communis	tree	flavoring of gin, sauces, stews, fish; particularly gravlax	f, d
Lavender	lavandula officinalis	p	soups, baking, vegetables, oils	f, d
Leek	allium porrum	p	soups, sauces, vegetables, roasts, fish, chicken, veal, beef	f
Lemon Verbena	lippia citriodora	p	tea, fruit salads, jelly	f, d

GOOD COOKING'S HERB AND SPICE GUIDE