Herbs

Appears in

Published 1974

About

For my part, the classroom has been instructive in many ways. One forgets so easily and I had long since come to think of herbs as an unquestioned presence in the kitchen. I discovered that, for the students, the summer course was a revelation in “herb cookery.” The “recommended improvements” forms filled out at the end of the course nearly all suggested a series of herb lectures, and many of my students returned home to plant herb gardens.

Interesting books on herbs are not lacking, although a number of them are better informed in the ways of religious rites, witchcraft, and medicine than in those of the kitchen. For practical purposes, Tom Stobart’s The International Wine and Food Society’s Guide to Herbs, Spices and Flavorings (London: David and Charles; 1970) seems particularly good. Of Herbs and Spices, by Colin Clair (London: Abelard-Schuman; 1961) I have enjoyed for its historical and anecdotal content and another, Les Soleils de la Cuisine by Robert Landry, is, in French, amusingly but seriously written. It has recently been translated into English, published by Abelard-Schuman under the title of The Gentle Art of Flavoring.