AY Honors/Herbs/Answer Key

1. List 25 culinary herbs and their uses.

Allspice

The fruit of the allspice is more familiar, but the fresh leaves are also used where available: they are similar in texture to bay leaves and are thus infused during cooking and then removed before serving.

Arugula

Arugula (also known as Rocket) is generally used in salads but also cooked as a vegetable with pastas or meats and in coastal Slovenia, it is added in the squeaky cheese burek. It is often used in pizzas.

Basil

Basil is most commonly recommended to be used fresh, and in cooked recipes, is generally added at the last moment, as cooking destroys the flavor quickly. It is known as the King of Herbs.

Bay leaf

Bay leaf is often used to flavor soups, stews, braises and pâtés in Mediterranean Cuisine. The fresh leaves are very mild and do not develop their full flavor until several weeks after picking and drying.

Chives

Uses for chives involve shredding its leaves (straws) for use as condiment for fish, potatoes and soups.

Cicily

Cicily leaves are sometimes used as a herb, with a rather strong taste reminiscent of anise; it is used mainly in Germany and Scandinavia.

Cilantro

Cilantro is also known as Coriander. The fresh leaves are an essential ingredient in many Vietnamese foods, Asian chutneys and Mexican salsas and guacamole.

Curry leaves

Curry leaves are commonly used as seasoning in Indian and Sri Lankan cooking, much like bay leaves and especially in curries with fish or coconut milk.

Dill

Like caraway, its fernlike leaves are aromatic, and are used to flavor many foods, such as pickled salmon, borscht and other soups and pickles.

Garlic

Garlic is widely used around the world for its pungent flavour, as a seasoning or condiment or to enhance other flavours. Depending on the form of cooking and the desired result, the flavor is either mellow or intense. It is often paired with onion, tomato, and/or ginger.

Horseradish

The horseradish root is used as a vegetable or ground in a condiment called prepared horseradish, and has at times been used as the bitter herbs in the Passover meal in some Jewish communities. Horseradish, sometimes blended with cream and called horseradish sauce, is often served with roast or boiled beef, as well as smoked fish. Horseradish is also used in some prepared mustards. Also, much of what is styled wasabi is, outside of Japan, actually common horseradish dyed green.

Hyssop

Hyssop leaves have a slightly bitter minty flavor and can be added to soups, salads or meats, although should be used sparingly as the flavor is very strong.

Lemon grass

Lemon grass is commonly used in teas, soups, and curries. It is also suitable for poultry, fish, and seafood. It is often used as a tea in African countries.

Licorice

Liquorice flavor is found in a wide variety of liquorice candies.

Parsley

Two forms of parsley are used as herbs: curly leaf and Italian or flat leaf. Curly leaf parsley is often used as a garnish. Flat leaf parsley has a stronger flavor.

Peppermint

Peppermint has a high menthol content, and is often used as a flavoring in tea, ice cream, confectionery, chewing gum, and toothpaste.

Raspberry leaves

Leaves of the raspberry cane are used fresh or dried in herbal teas.

Rose hips

Rose hips are commonly used as a herbal tea, often blended with hibiscus and as an oil.

Rosemary

The fresh and dried leaves are used frequently in traditional Mediterranean cuisine as an herb; they have a bitter, astringent taste, which complements oily foods, such as lamb and oily fish. They are extensively used in cooking, and when burned gives off a distinct mustard smell, which can be used to flavor foods while barbequeueing.

Rue

Rue was used extensively in middle eastern cuisine in olden days, but because it is very bitter, it is usually not suitable for most modern tastes. However, it is still used certain parts of the world, particularly in northern Africa.

Sage

As an herb, sage is considered to have a slight peppery flavour. In Western cooking, it is used for flavoring fatty meats (especially as a marinade), cheeses, and some drinks. In Britain, sage is used with onion for stuffing and also in sauces. In French cuisine, sage is used for cooking white meat and in vegetable soups. Germans often use it in sausage dishes. Sage is also common in Italian cooking. In the Balkans and the Middle East, it is used when roasting mutton.

Saffron

Saffron is characterized by a bitter taste and a hay-like fragrance. It also contains a dye, crocin, that gives food a rich golden-yellow hue. These traits make saffron a much-sought ingredient in many foods worldwide.

Sorrel

The leaves may be added to salads to sharpen the taste. They are often puréed in soups and sauces.

Spearmint

Spearmint is used as a flavoring for toothpaste and confectionery.

Sumac

The hairy covering of the drupes is harvested and used as a spice (a deep red powder with a sour taste) in some Middle Eastern countries, particularly with salads. In North America, the smooth sumac and the staghorn sumac, are sometimes used to make a beverage, termed "sumac-ade" or "Indian lemonade" or "rhus juice".

Sweet grass

Sweet grass was used in France to flavor candy, soft drinks, and perfumes. In Russia, it was used to flavor tea.

Tansy

Tansy was formerly used as a flavoring for puddings and omelets, but that is almost unknown now.

Tarragon

Tarragon is one of the four fines herbes of French cooking, and particularly suitable for fish and chicken dishes. Tarragon is one of the main components of Bearnaise sauce.

Thyme

Thyme (pronounced time) is often used to flavor meats, soups and stews. It is used in French cuisine, where it is an important element in a bouquet garni, as well as in herbes de Provence. It is also widely used in Caribbean cuisine. In some Middle Eastern countries, the condiment za'atar contains thyme as a vital ingredient.

2. List 25 medicinal herbs and their uses.

Allspice

18th century Russian soldiers would put allspice in their boots. Volatile oils found in the plant contain eugenol, a weak antimicrobial agent.

Aloe vera

Aloe vera has been used externally to treat various skin conditions such as cuts, burns and eczema.

Balm of Gilead

Balm of Gilead is a healing compound (a balm) made from the resinous gum of the North American tree species Populus candicans (Balsam Poplar).

Chamomile

Chamomile is used medicinally against sore stomach, irritable bowel syndrome, and as a gentle sleep aid. It can be taken as an herbal tea, two teaspoons of dried flower per cup of tea. For a sore stomach, some recommend taking a cup every morning without food for two to three months. It is also used as a mouthwash.

Comfrey

This herb contains allantoin, a cell proliferant that speeds up the natural replacement of body cells. This means that it will promote the swift healing of damaged or injured tissues, as well as maintaining cell growth and preventing diseases.

Coriander

Coriander has been used for the relief of anxiety. Coriander essential oil showed a delay in E. Coli growth, suggesting possible agricultural anti-bacterial applications.

Cowslip

Cowslip is used medicinally as a diuretic, an expectorant, and an antispasmodic, as well as for the treatment of headaches, whooping cough, tremors, and other conditions

Eucalyptus

An essential oil extracted from eucalypt leaves contains compounds that are powerful natural disinfectants and which can be toxic in large quantities.

Eyebright

Eyebright is used for eyestrain and to relieve inflammation caused by colds, coughs, sinus infections, and sore throats.

Garlic

Garlic extracts that are left to set overnight are very effective in healing wounds. In 1858, Louis Pasteur observed garlic's antibacterial activity, and it was used as an antiseptic to prevent gangrene during World War I and World War II.

Great Mullein

Great mullein is used as an herbal remedy for sore throat, cough and lung diseases.

Licorice

Powdered liquorice root is an effective expectorant, and has been used for this purpose since ancient times. Modern cough syrups often include liquorice extract as an ingredient. Additionally, liquorice may be useful for both mouth ulcers and peptic ulcers.

Hyssop

In John 19:29, a sponge soaked in sour wine or vinegar was stuck on a branch of hyssop and offered to Jesus on the cross just before he died. Hyssop has medicinal properties which are listed as including expectorant, carminative, relaxes peripheral blood vessels, promotes sweating, anti-inflammatory, anti-catarrhal, antispasmodic.

Oregano

In the Philippines, oregano is not commonly used for cooking but is rather considered as a primarily medicinal plant, useful for relieving children's coughs.

Peppermint

It is said that peppermint helps against upset stomachs, inhibits the growth of certain bacteria, and can help smooth and relax muscles when inhaled or applied to the skin.

Purslane

Purslane is used as a remedy for constipation and inflammation of the urinary system. In antiquity its healing properties were thought so reliable that Pliny advised wearing the plant as an amulet to expel all evil.

Raspberry leaves

Raspberry leaves have an astringent flavor and in herbal medicine are reputed to be effective in regulating menses.

Rosemary

Rosemary has a very old reputation for improving memory, and has been used as a symbol for remembrance (as in worn during weddings, war commemorations and funerals) in Europe, probably as a result of this reputation. Students in ancient Greece are reported to have worn sprigs of rosemary in their hair while studying for exams to improve their memory, and mourners would throw it into graves as a symbol of remembrance for the dead. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia says, "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance".

Sage

Modern evidence supports the effects of sage as an antihydrotic, antibiotic, antifungal, astringent, antispasmodic, estrogenic, hypoglycemic, and tonic.

Saffron

Modern medicine has also discovered saffron as having anticarcinogenic (cancer-suppressing), anti-mutagenic (mutation-preventing), immunomodulating, and antioxidant-like properties.

Senna

Because of the presence of anthraquinones, senna species are used as the primary ingredient in certain commercial stimulant laxatives.

Sorrel

Sorrel is used as a laxative.

Spearmint

Recent research has shown that Spearmint tea may be used as a treatment for mild hirsutism (facial hair) in women. Its anti-androgenic properties reduce the level of free testosterone in the blood.

Tamarind

In the Philippines, the leaves have been traditionally used in herbal tea for reducing malaria fever. Tamarind is used as a medicine for gastric and/or digestion problems.

Tansy

Bitter tea made with the blossoms of Tansy has been effectively used for centuries as a drug that expels parasitic worms. Note that only Tanacetum vulgare is used in medicinal preparations; all species of tansy are toxic, and an overdose can be fatal. As a natural insect repellent, it was often planted next to kitchen doors to keep ants out.

Yarrow

Yarrow is purported to be a diaphoretic, astringent, tonic, stimulant and mild aromatic. The plant also has a long history as a powerful 'healing herb' used topically for wounds, cuts and abrasions.