50 Fun Facts About Herb

In culinary terms, herbs come from which part of a plant?

Culinary herbs are the leafy green or flowering parts of a plant, while spices come from seeds, bark, roots and fruits; coriander supplies both.

The word 'herb' ultimately derives from a Latin word meaning what?

Herba meant grass or herb; Americans typically drop the h when saying it, Commonwealth speakers pronounce it.

Which four herbs make up the classic fines herbes of French cooking?

Fines herbes are parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil, chopped fine and added late to delicate dishes such as omelettes and fish.

What is a bouquet garni?

A bouquet garni is a bundle of herbs, classically thyme, bay leaf and parsley, tied together, simmered in stocks and stews and fished out before serving.

Basil, mint, oregano, thyme, sage and rosemary all belong to which plant family?

Lamiaceae, the mint family, includes basil, mint, oregano, thyme, sage and rosemary; parsley, dill and coriander belong to the carrot family Apiaceae instead.

The name basil comes from a Greek phrase meaning what kind of plant?

Basilikon phyton is the source; the herb is native to tropical regions from Central Africa to Southeast Asia.

Basil is one of the two main ingredients, with olive oil, of which Italian sauce?

Pesto alla genovese pounds basil with olive oil, pine nuts, garlic and Parmesan; the name comes from pestare, to pound.

Tulsi, the plant sacred in Hindu tradition, is a species of which herb?

Holy basil is Ocimum tenuiflorum, a different species from the sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) used in Italian kitchens.

In American English, what name is used for the leaves of the coriander plant?

Cilantro is simply the Spanish word for coriander; American cooks use it for the leaves and reserve 'coriander' for the seeds.

A variant of which gene is linked to some people tasting soap when they eat coriander leaves?

OR6A2 codes for an olfactory receptor sensitive to the aldehydes in coriander leaves; a 2012 23andMe study linked a variant near it to the soapy taste.

Crushed coriander seeds have a lemony flavour thanks to which two terpenes?

Linalool, around two-thirds of coriander seed oil, and pinene give crushed seeds their lemony flavour; the plant is an annual in the carrot family.

In 2017 rosemary was reclassified into which genus on molecular evidence?

Molecular evidence turned Rosmarinus officinalis into Salvia rosmarinus, to the irritation of every gardener with a label maker.

The Latin name of rosemary translates as what?

Rosemary's Latin name ros marinus means 'dew of the sea'; the evergreen shrub grows wild along Mediterranean coasts.

Sprigs of rosemary are worn on which national day of remembrance?

Sprigs of rosemary are worn on Anzac Day (25 April) because the herb grows wild on the Gallipoli peninsula; Ophelia calls it 'for remembrance' in Hamlet.

What are the two main types of garden parsley?

Garden parsley comes in curly and flat-leaf types; the flat-leaf kind is often sold as Italian parsley, and both are biennials in temperate climates.

Parsley is a key ingredient in which Lebanese salad?

The parsley, not the bulgur, is the bulk of a proper tabbouleh.

Hamburg parsley, popular in central and eastern Europe, is grown for which part of the plant?

Hamburg parsley is grown for its root, which looks like a thin parsnip and goes into soups and stews or is eaten raw.

The Greek word that gave us 'parsley' literally means what?

Petroselinon, the Greek root of 'parsley', means 'rock celery'; the plant is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean.

Peppermint is a natural hybrid of spearmint and which other species?

Peppermint, Mentha × piperita, is a sterile hybrid of water mint (Mentha aquatica) and spearmint (Mentha spicata), usually propagated from cuttings.

In Greek myth, the nymph Minthe was turned into a mint plant after being loved by which god?

Minthe, a nymph of the underworld river Cocytus, was loved by Hades; a jealous Persephone (or Demeter) transformed her into the mint plant.

Which compound gives peppermint its cooling aroma and flavour?

Menthol activates the cold-sensing TRPM8 receptors in the mouth, which is why peppermint feels cold without being cold.

Oregano became popular in the US after soldiers returned from which war with a taste for the "pizza herb"?

US soldiers returning from Italy after World War II brought home a taste for oregano, the 'pizza herb'; its flavour comes largely from carvacrol and thymol.

One popular etymology says the name oregano comes from Greek words meaning what?

Oros is mountain and ganos is joy; sweet marjoram is its close relative in the same genus.

Ancient Egyptians used which herb for embalming?

The Greeks burned it as temple incense and thought it a source of courage; thymol is its main aromatic compound.

Which herb is the eponymous ingredient in the pickles served with an American deli sandwich?

Dill pickles take their name from the herb, the only species in the genus Anethum; Russian and Scandinavian cooks use it with abandon.

Dill is native to which regions?

Dill is native to North Africa and the Middle East, from Iran to the Arabian Peninsula, though Scandinavian and Russian cooking, gravlax included, made it their own.

The genus name of culinary sage comes from a Latin verb meaning what?

Salvia comes from Latin salvere, 'to be healthy' or 'to save'; the Romans called sage the holy herb and used it as a medicine.

Which herb flavours the classic English 'and onion' stuffing served with roast turkey?

Sage and onion stuffing is the traditional one; the herb also goes into Lincolnshire sausages, Italian saltimbocca and Sage Derby cheese.

Culinary bay leaves most commonly come from which tree?

Bay laurel, Laurus nobilis, supplies the culinary bay leaf; the leaves stay stiff after cooking, which is why recipes say to fish them out.

The Indian bay leaf, tej patta, tastes like a milder version of which spice?

It comes from Cinnamomum tamala and is about twice as long and wider than a European bay leaf.

Tarragon is the main flavouring of which classic French sauce?

French tarragon has sterile flowers and must be propagated by cuttings; the Russian type grows from seed but tastes weaker.

Tarragon flavours a popular carbonated soft drink, Tarkhuna, that originated in which country?

Tarkhuna was created in Tiflis (Tbilisi), Georgia, in 1887 by pharmacist Mitrofan Lagidze, and the bright green drink spread across the Soviet Union.

Unlike most kitchen herbs, tarragon belongs to which plant family, alongside daisies and sunflowers?

Tarragon, Artemisia dracunculus, sits in the daisy family Asteraceae alongside wormwood; its anise note comes from estragole.

Which onion genus has exactly one species native to both the Old and New Worlds, the one we snip over baked potatoes?

Allium, the onion genus, includes chives, Allium schoenoprasum, the only Allium species native to both the Old and New Worlds.

Which herb, sometimes called French parsley, has a faint taste of aniseed?

Chervil wilts fast and loses flavour when dried, so it is nearly always used fresh and added at the end of cooking.

Lemongrass, despite its name and flavour, is botanically what kind of plant?

Lemongrass is a true grass in the family Poaceae, growing in tall clumps; its stalks are bruised or pounded to release the lemon scent in Thai and Vietnamese cooking.

Citronella oil, the insect repellent, is distilled from species of which lemon-scented plant genus?

Cymbopogon nardus and Cymbopogon winterianus, the citronella grasses, are steam-distilled for citronella oil; the clumps grow to about two metres.

The word for the purple-flowered herb Lavandula is thought to derive from a Latin verb meaning what?

Lavandula is traditionally traced to Latin lavare, 'to wash', via Old French lavandre; English lavender is Lavandula angustifolia.

Which plateau in Provence is famous for its lavender fields?

The Plateau de Valensole, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, is France's best-known lavender landscape; the fields bloom purple from late June into July before harvest.

Which purple-flowered ingredient appears in North American herbes de Provence but is unusual in French blends?

Lavender appears in North American herbes de Provence, but traditional French blends rely on thyme, savory, rosemary and oregano and rarely include it.

In which decade was the herbes de Provence blend first formulated commercially by spice wholesalers?

Spice wholesaler Ducros put the herbes de Provence blend on sale in the 1970s; the name has no protected status, and most herbs sold under it grow outside Provence.

Sorrel's sharp, lemony taste comes mainly from which acid?

Sorrel owes its sharp, lemony flavour to oxalic acid, the same compound that makes rhubarb leaves toxic in quantity.

Botanically, a herbaceous plant is one with which characteristic?

A herbaceous plant has no persistent woody stem and dies back to the ground each season; by that definition woody rosemary and bay are kitchen herbs but not botanical ones.

Which fines herbe has pale purple edible flowers and a species name meaning 'rush-leek'?

Chives, Allium schoenoprasum ('rush-leek'), bear pale purple edible flowers and belong to the amaryllis family with onions and garlic.

The Greek name of which herb gives the battlefield of Marathon its name?

In Hesiod's Theogony, Prometheus smuggles fire from Olympus in a hollow fennel stalk.

Which emperor required fennel to be grown on all imperial farms?

Charlemagne's Capitulare de villis (c. 800) listed fennel among the plants to be grown on imperial estates; Greeks and Romans used it as food, medicine and insect repellent.

Marjoram was known to the Romans as the herb of what?

To the Romans marjoram was the herb of happiness; the Greeks believed Aphrodite had created it and wove it into wedding wreaths.

Lovage is the sole species of which genus?

Lovage, Levisticum officinale, is the only species in its genus; the plant tastes of celery and parsley and its seeds are used like fennel seeds.

The genus name of lemon balm, Melissa, comes from the Greek word for what?

Melissa is Greek for honey bee; lemon balm's flowers attract bees, and beekeepers have grown it near hives for centuries.

Sweet woodruff, used to flavour German May wine, owes its scent to which compound?

Coumarin gives sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) its new-mown-hay scent, which strengthens as the plant wilts; it also flavours German Maibowle.