Consumption

Do you also have pots with delicious fresh herbs at home? They offer flavour, colour and wonderful aromas. But do you also know which herbs you can cook with and which not?

It's a myth that you can only add fresh herbs to your preparation, at the last minute. Some herbs can easily marinate for a few hours. Another misunderstanding is that you can use either fresh or dried herbs; the two can go perfectly together. It's also interesting that due to the pronounced flavours of herbs, less salt should be used when cooking.

Do not cook with
Herbs with soft leaves such as basil, mint, coriander, parsley, tarragon, chives and dill
are best added at the end of the cooking process or just before serving. They quickly release their flavour and heating or cooking for too long leads to loss of flavour.
Tip: tear or bruise the leaves instead of cutting them. This way they will discolour less quickly.

Do let it cook along
Herbs with hard leaves such as thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and sage need heat and time to release their flavour. So feel free to add these at the start of the cooking process.
Spices such as pepper, garlic and cloves are best fried.
Tip: do not throw away the stems of rosemary, thyme and coriander because they add flavour to your sauce when cooked.

Fresh herbs versus dried herbs
It's not always easy to have fresh herbs at home. Especially when you don't use them every day. In that case, you can also opt for dried herbs.
Dried herbs are often stronger, so you need to use less of them. You generally use them at the start of cooking so that the flavours can be released properly. If the dried herbs you want to add are green, it's best to add them 5 minutes before the end because they burn quite quickly.

(MH with FVDV for Tagtik/Illustration picture: Unsplash)