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THE CULINARY HERB GARDEN

A romatic culinary herbs have always been grown for their ability to flavour and enhance the preparation of food and drink. The preservative properties of plants were also considered to be invaluable before the advent of modern storage techniques, such as refrigeration, as were their aperitif and digestive properties. Many of the Mediterranean herbs such as bay, marjoram, rosemary and thyme, which all contain large proportions of bactericidal essential oils, were especially highly regarded in this respect, as were spices such as cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and ginger.

The health-giving properties of herbs have also played a part in their culinary application. In the late seventeenth century, for example, salads and herbs were considered most important as scurvy was rife, due to a general lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in the diet. John Evelyn, the diarist, wrote a Discourse on Sallets, as they were known, saying that ‘raw Sallets and Herbs have been found to be the most soveraign Diet’ to get rid of disease. ‘Sweet herbs’ was a term that arose in the seventeenth century to describe sage, marjoram, thyme, hyssop, savory and mint, grown in the kitchen garden, along with vegetables or ‘pot herbs’.

The flower-filled kitchen garden of Château de Miromesnil, France.

Pack-Shot

Apple mint (Mentha suaveolens) is rich in essential oils that have antiseptic properties.

marilyn barbone

The benefits of eating plenty of fresh vegetables, salads and herbs are well recognised today, and herbs are being grown increasingly for their flavouring and therapeutic qualities. Apple mint, for example, is always useful in the kitchen and is highly aromatic. Sweet violet, pot marigold and nasturtiums lend their flowers and leaves to salads or sweet dishes, while lemon balm, lemon verbena and chamomile all make soothing, delicious tisanes. Angelica stalks can be candied and the leaves used in salads. Parsley and chives are invaluable for garnishing, while the subtle flavours of French tarragon and summer savory are excellent in sauces. For more exotic oriental cooking, coriander, caraway and anise are indispensable, while juniper provides small black aromatic berries essential to game dishes. Sweet bay trees planted in tubs can not only be used to mark the corners of borders or as a central feature, but along with such well-known kitchen herbs as thyme and marjoram, their leaves are intrinsic to creating a bouquet garni.

Herbs, of course, can also be grown for their aesthetic appeal, quite apart from any medicinal or culinary usage. Although kitchen herb gardens are traditionally quite formally laid out, in the cottage garden culinary herbs are frequently mixed into informal beds. A modern kitchen herb garden can be based on a formally structured design, as in the early monastery gardens, or can follow a more relaxed cottage-garden style. The famous walled kitchen garden or potager at the seventeenth-century Château de Miromesnil in France, for example, displays a mix of vegetables, herbs and flowers, giving the effect of ‘joyous simplicity and generosity.’ Alternatively, most culinary herbs can be grown in pots, tubs or window boxes which can be placed within easy reach of the kitchen door.