Showing posts with label basil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label basil. Show all posts

Aneth – Dill. The spice with a very light aniseed flavor and a favorite in the French kitchen.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 


Dill
(Dill weeds are dried dill leaves, and they certainly are not weeds.
     
The taste of dill.
  
I am not a great fan of strong aniseed tastes; however, dill is not aniseed.  Dill is mild, and in marinades, soups, and sauces, it adds a light aniseed accent that I do like. The French use the feathery dill leaves to marinate fresh salmon and other fish dishes.  
   
Dill seeds.
The seeds are 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long and 1 mm (0.04 in) thick.
www.flickr.com/photos/44799719@N00/368305912/

Fresh dill leaves, surprisingly, have a lighter taste than the same leaves in their dried form.  Dill leaves and their seeds, which are their fruits, are available fresh or dried.  Dill leaves are milder than the seeds and more likely to be used on their own in herbal butters, herbal vinegar, or flavor salads. Dill seeds are used as a salt substitute, for pickling, and to flavor pastries.  
 
Dill on French menus:
  
Carpaccio de Bœuf Mariné Citronné et à l’Aneth Beef Carpaccio marinated with lemon and dill.
     
Barbecuing tiger prawns flavored with dill.
www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/10511535635/
    
Escalope de Veau Panée, Sauce Crémeuse à l’Aneth et  Citron   A breaded veal scallop/escalope  served with a cream sauce flavored with dill and lemon.

Feuilleté aux Moules et à l’Aneth A puff pastry casing filled with mussels flavored with dill.
   
Plaice in a dill sauce, with peas and potato pancakes.
www.flickr.com/photos/40132124@N00/10560573566/
    
Petites Tartelettes au Thon, Chèvre Frais et Aneth – Small tuna tarts, made with fresh goat’s cheese flavored with dill.

Salade de Carpe Fumée Maison, Crème Citronnée à l’Aneth et Œufs de Lumps  - A salad of home-made smoked carp; served with a lemon-flavored cream sauce with added dill and lumpfish eggs. N.B.: Lumpfish eggs are called lumpfish caviar outside of France. In France, the only fish eggs that may be called caviar are those that come from the sturgeon.  

Dill marinated salmon.
 
Saumon Mariné à l'Aneth  Salmon marinated in dill. When this dish is well-made and thinly sliced, it is the only dish I know to compete with the best smoked salmon for flavor and texture. 
 
Dill and Fennel.
  
Dill’s green stalks, leaves, and seeds look like a smaller version of fennel; that is not too surprising as they are members of the same family.   However, dill is the spice of choice for recipes when a light aniseed touch is needed.   Fresh dill keeps well in a refrigerator, but when fresh dill is not available, unlike many other spices that lose flavor when dried, dried dill is an acceptable alternative and is stronger than fresh dill.

Dill’s origins.
 
Some herb and spice experts will tell you that dill originated in Europe and others in Central Asia.  In Europe, we know the Ancient Romans and Greeks used dill in many recipes, and from those two countries, you may see how the taste for dill progressed with recipes, including dill spreading throughout the Mediterranean.  In Asia, India has its own variety of dill called Sowa.
 
Wherever dill originated, it was undoubtedly one of the Old-World exports to the New World.  In North America, dill leaves are marketed as dill weeds; however, dill weeds are dried dill leaves, and they certainly are not weeds.
 
The origin of dill’s English name.

The English name dill comes from the Scandinavia, where the words, dill, dild, dila, are all words that indicate calm.  French and other homeopathic doctors prescribe dill to calm an upset stomach and other disorders. 
   
Salad with cucumber, radish, and dill with yogurt sauce
www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/48841116057/
   
Dill and aniseed.
    
Dill has two other French names, Faux Anis and Fenouil Bâtard, but they will not usually be seen on menus. For those seeking real Aniseed in France, it is called Anis and Anis Vert.  Star Anise, the star-shaped fruit of the Chinese Aniseed flavored spice, is called Anis Étoile and Badiane.   

Not from France.
One of America's favorite pickles, the kosher dill cucumber.
www.flickr.com/photos/maggiemuddphotography/4347393210/
    
Dill in the languages of France’s neighbors:

(Catalan – anet), (German - dill, gurkenkraut), (Italian – aneto),  (Spanish - hinojo hediondo, abesón, aneldo, eneldo).
  
Dill in other languages:

(Chinese (Mandarin) -歐洲蒔蘿  ōu zhōu shì luó, 蒔蘿 shì luó), (Dutch – dille), (Greek – Άνηθος, anithos)m (Hebrew- shevet rehanee, shamir, שבת ריחני, שמיר ), (Japanese -ディルイノンド, siru, inondo), (Korean -이논드, tir, inondu), (Malay - adas china, adas pudus, ender), (Norwegian – dill),  (Polish - koper ogrodowy), (Portugues – endro, aneto),(Rumanian  - mărar), (Russian – Укроп, ukrop), (Ukranian - kріп, kріп запашний, yкріп, kопер, krip, krip zapashnyj, ukrip, koper). With thanks to Gernot Katzer and his spice pages for the many translations and other assistance.  
 
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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2015, 2020.


--------------------------------


Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases
on
French menus?

Just add the word, words, or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" (best when including the inverted commas), and search with Google, Bing, or another browser.  Behind the French Menu’s links, include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 450 articles that include over 4,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.
  
  
Connected posts:




  


 
  
  
 
Fenouil - Fennel, the Herb, and the Vegetable. Fennel on French Menus.



 


For other herbs and spices from behind the French Menus see:




Herbes de Provence - The Herbs of Provence. Provencal Cuisine and the Herbes de Provence.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 


 
Herbes de Provence.
Photograph courtesy of Christopher Paquette

Until about seventy years ago, the term the Herbes of Provence did not indicate a spice group. Then if you had asked for the Herbs de Provence, you would have been given a list of the individual herbs that grew wild in Provence. Herbes of Provence, as a particular herb group, to be used for new recipes in French cuisine, is a relatively new creation and now includes specific herbs used together in modern Provencal cuisine. The idea was so successful that tourist purchases of bottled and bagged commercial preparations of dried Herbes de Provence are an important part of the grower's
incomes.

The group of herbs used depends on the chef; they will include five or six from the following list of fresh herbs:

Basilic, basil;  cerfeul, chervil; graines de Fenouil, fennel seeds; feuille de Laurier, bay leaves; marjolaine,marjoram; romarin; rosemary;  farigoule, wild thyme; thym, thyme; sauge, sage; sarriette, summer savory; and estragon, tarragon.  Some chefs add Lavender for its aroma. Lavender is the flower and scent of Provence.

Herbes de Provence on French Menus:
 
Bar Entier Grillé aux Graines de Fenouil et aux Herbes de Provence  A whole grilled European sea bass flavored with fennel seeds and the Herbs of Provence. European sea bass will be on many Provencal menus as loup, which is the fish's name in Occitan. Fennel has an aniseed taste and fennel seeds are stronger than the leaves.

Fennel.
Flowers at the top, seeds in the middle, and at the bottom the thin leaves.
www.flickr.com/photos/zoyachubby/463983617/


Camembert Braisé aux Herbes de Provence – Braised Camembert cheese flavored with the herbs of Provence. Here a whole Camembert braised will before serving. 

Civet de Porcelet et sa Polenta aux Herbes de Provence –civet is a traditional stew that initially was made with small wild animals including rabbit, hare, and young wild boar. Here it is made with suckling pig and served with polenta and flavored with the herbs of Provence. 
  
Bay leaves.
www.flickr.com/photos/55368994@N06/6238396132/

Entrecôte Grillée aux Herbes de Provence – A US rib eye, a UK sirloin steak, an entrecote grilled with the herbs of Provence. 

Les Côtelettes d'Agneau Grillées aux Herbes de Provence – Grilled lamb chops flavored with the herbs of Provence. 
  
When I am in Provence, and I see dishes like those noted above, I ask questions about the herbs used. Chefs demand fresh herbs and make changes when a particular fresh herb is not available. More importantly, the quantities of each herb used vary greatly between chef and chef, and that will significantly affect the taste. Furthermore, no chef uses them all at the same time, at the most six or seven. The fresh herbs come from local market gardeners, and that includes farigoule, wild thyme.  With such a wide choice of herbs and their proportions unlike the herb group, Les Fine Herbs do not expect a single flavor as you dine in Provence.

Lavender fields in Provence.
www.flickr.com/photos/decar66/14351116200/

While chefs demand fresh herbs, the tourists, including French tourists, are sold pre-packed dried herbs. Home cooks can create tastes closer to the original by buying many of these fresh herbs in markets at home, at least four or five will be available all year round. Caveat emptor: the pre-packed dried Herbes de Provence mostly includes only four or five of the original eleven or twelve; usually romarin, rosemary, sarriette, summer savory; ordinary cultivated thym, thyme, with origan, oregano with its overpowering taste replacing the lighter fresh marjolaine, marjoram. Many dried herb packages include lavender; lavender is only added for its scent as it does not affect the taste in any important way. From the label of contents, you will also see that each supplier uses a different percentage of each herb in their mix. 

Bags of dried Herbes de Provence on sale in the market.
   
The origins of the Herbs de Provence.

The cultural influences that created Provence are as varied as the herbs within the group. Nevertheless, all of the herbs that make up the Provencal herb group originated in the Mediterranean, Middle East or Asia, and all predated the discovery of the New World.

Farigoule, serpolet, wild thyme.
www.flickr.com/photos/14583963@N00/7836957046/

I always double check the origins of herbs and spices I learn from the delears on the web pages of Gernot Katzer and his Spice Pages:  http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/ and Eric Schoenzetter and his Toil d'Épices: http://www.toildepices.com/.  These two websites are full of herbal knowledge. Eric Schoenzetter includes, for Herbes de Province more options that include: clous de girofle -cloves; macis and fleur de muscade, mace and nutmeg; and genièvre or baie de genièvre, juniper berries.
  
  
Les Fine Herbes.


--------------------------------

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

 

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

 

Copyright 2010, 2014, 2018, 2020
 
 
--------------------------------

Searching for the meaning of words, names or phrases
on
French menus?
 
Just add the word, words, or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" (best when including the inverted commas), and search with Google, Bing, or another browser.  Behind the French Menu’s links, include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 450 articles that include over 4,000 French dishes with English translations and explanations.


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