Herbs

Any of a large group of annual and perennial plants whose stems, leaves or flowers are used as a flavoring. The scent and folklore of fresh herbs have permeated nearly 5,000 years of history. From savory to sweet, ambrosial to pungent, herbs have their culinary use as well as medicinal properties. Through the centuries, herbs have been used for love potions, protection against baldness, prevention against vitamin deficiencies, decorative foliage and as symbols of wealth and goodwill toward the gods. During the Middle Ages, herbs became important in a culinary sense and were used broadly in sauces, conserves, pastries, puddings, teas and especially wines.

Far from being a modern occurrence, collecting aromatic herbs can be traced back as far as ancient Egypt. About 1500 BC, Queen Hatshepsut ordered the mass felling of fig trees in her kingdom to build rafts, which were poled hundreds of miles up the Nile River to seek out exotic trees and aromatic herbs for the royal gardens. Sennacherib, son of Sargon II of Assyria, erected magnificent gardens and planted them with myrrh and other aromatic shrubs collected from the land of the Hittites. The earliest scientific works on herbs were Greek writer Theophrastus' History of Plants and Causes of Plants (c. 300 BC) and the seminal texts of the Middle Ages, Avienna's Canon Medicinea (c. 1020) and the Anglo-Saxon Leech Book of Bald (c. 950). See also achilée, alexanders, alfalfa, angelica, anise, basil, bergamot, betony, borage, burnet, catnip, chamomile, chervil, chicory, chive, cicely, clary, comfrey, costmary, dill, epazote, fines herbes, herbes de Provence, horehound, horseradish, hyssop, lavender, lemon balm, lemongrass, lemon verbena, lovage, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, samphire, savory, shiso, sorrel, spices, tansy, tarragon, thyme, vervain, woodruff, wormwood, yarrow, za'atar.

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