Part of the wonder and enjoyment of cooking with locally produced goods is becoming aware of the seasonality of food. Spring is certain when you sauté the first stalks of asparagus. In late summer you relish the flavor of a vine-ripened tomato the most, knowing that it might be the last.
Autumn is even more golden with the sweet flavor of a roasted butternut squash. And winter’s chill is easier to tolerate when relieved with a hearty potato stew.
There is one part of cooking up the good life that can offer year-round freshness: herbs. Fresh herbs are superior in flavor and nutrition to their dried remnants. With little fuss, you can have an abundant supply of basil, bay leaf, cilantro (and coriander), chives, garlic chives, lemon grass, marjoram, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme by growing them indoors.
With a minimal investment in small plants or seed, you can explore the different varieties-sometimes subtle-within many cultivars. For example, basil comes in a multitude of varieties: cinnamon, lemon, lettuce leaf, licorice, opal, purple ruffles, spicy globe, sweet, and Thai.
Mint offers another world of culinary flavor, and in addition to the traditional peppermint and spearmint, can be had in the more exotic apple, bergamot (or orange), chocolate, Corsican, Egyptian, ginger, Persian, and pineapple.
Keep your mint plants separate so their flavors stay true and strong. In addition to the soft gray-green of garden sage, try the golden or berggarten varieties. And definitely go beyond the comfort zone of curled parsley (as a ubiquitous afterthought on a diner’s plate, a cutting of parsley on your plate used to mean that the master chef had personally prepared your order).
Grow the more flavorful fl at-leafed parsley varieties, called Italian or plain Italian dark green. Be creative with your definition of container and look beyond the traditional clay pot on the windowsill. Fill a hanging basket with mint and hang it in a sunny window in the bathroom.
Or cultivate rosemary in an old water pitcher with a broken handle. As a rule, containers around ten inches in diameter and at least four inches deep work well, although a depth of twelve to fifteen inches will allow your basil, chives, and mint more root space for longer and better growth. And with the exception of keeping mint to itself, you can experiment with growing two or more varieties together in a larger pot.
But if you think that is to complicated you should also know that, though no herb is a direct substitute for any other, there are many situations in which you’re not necessarily looking for a specific flavor but rather the freshness that herbs provide.
In these cases you can substitute parsley for basil, cilantro for mint, and so on. Just don’t expect the end product to taste the same. Fresh herbs keep best when stored in the refrigerator. Most should simply be wrapped in damp paper towels and slipped into a plastic bag.
Set those with fragile leaves-like basil, chervil, dill, mint, and parsley-stem down in a jar of water with a plastic bag over the leaves; change the water every day (and try not to upset the glass!).
Store dried herbs in sealed lightproof jars (or in a dark place) for up to a year. Taste before using them and you’ll know when it’s time for a new batch.
Before using, it’s usually best to strip herb leaves from their tougher, more bitter stems (this is especially true of the strongest herbs like rosemary and oregano). Just hold the top of the stem tightly with one hand and run your fingers downward to strip off the leaves.
