Parsley and chervil look mighty similar. And what should you cook with oregano? Time to swot up with our culinary herb guide.
Oregano
Eat with: Simply sprinkle into a homemade tomato sauce at the end of its cooking time, or use it to season your soups, stews, meat pies, pasta sauces, and shellfish.
Try it in this olives marinated with oregano and chillies recipe
Parsley
Eat with: fish (especially mackerel), spaghetti, chorizo, omelettes, soups.
Try it in this chorizo, clam and parsley broth recipe
Sage
Eat with: The leaves can be dipped in egg, breadcrumbed, and then deep fried as a canapé to serve with drinks. It's also wonderful roasted with a glug of oil and cubes of butternut squash.
Try it in this squash, sage and goats' cheese risotto recipe
Thyme
Eat with: stews, marinades, sprinkled it over omelettes... you'll also find it in the jerk seasonings of the Caribbean.
Try it in this venison stew with cheddar dumplings recipe
Fenugreek
Eat with: The young leaves are a salad herb and taste good with watercress. As for the seeds, use them as a spice in curries, pickles and chutneys. It can also help fend off a common cold, apparently.
Try it in this tandoori gobi masala recipe
Coriander
Eat with: Carrots, of course, as well as white flaky fish such as cod, mushrooms, chilli, lime.
Try it in this cod, coriander, tomato and garlic parcels recipe
Chervil
Eat with: Chuck into any scrambled or baked egg dish, and serve with fish, soups, and butter sauces. You’ll often find it nestled lightly on top of restaurant dishes too.
Try it in this spring vegetable tarte fine recipe
Rosemary
Eat with: No leg of lamb is complete without some sprigs of rosemary. But this wonderful herb (actually a member of the mint family) has other uses too, including sweet ones. It's also a great herb to scatter over a just-lit barbecue, to improve the smell.
Try it in this honey and rosemary popcorn flapjacks recipe
Marjoram
Eat with: Add marjoram at the end of cooking, because it’s too delicate to take long periods of heat. Eat with pork, or use in stuffing for poultry, dumplings, and herb scones or breads.
Try it in this chicken breasts with lemon and marjoram aioli recipe
Lovage
Eat with: The leaves can be used fresh in salads, soups, stews, stir-fries, potato dishes, and squash, and have even been used to make tea and wine.
Tarragon
Eat with: Snip into mayo with lemon zest for a tangy spread, or use in egg dishes, poached fish, mushrooms and other vegetables.
Try it in this chicken, tarragon and wholegrain mustard gnocchi recipe
Bay leaf
Eat with: Flavour soups and stews with whole leaves, add a couple to marinades, stock, pâtés, stews, and curries. When poaching fish, add a bay leaf to the water.
Try it in this barbecued stuffed trout recipe
Borage
Eat with: Borage is often chucked in salads prepared from raw vegetables, and is also found in soups. It’s a favourite herb for flavouring summer drinks, and the blue and occasionally pink delicate flowers are edible.
Try it in this mozzarella, cherries and prosciutto salad recipe
Dill
Eat with: Use with soups and omelettes, seafood, salmon, potato salads, and steamed vegetables. Dill seeds can be added whole to pickles, stews, and hearty soups.
Try it in this salmon with dill and mustard recipe
Lemongrass
Eat with: Lemongrass is great in Asian curries, whether bashed and bruised while whole, sliced, or ground up in curry pastes.
Try it in this Thai pork and lime stir fry recipe
Chives
Eat with: Use chopped up in omelettes, scatter on savoury pancakes and tarts or mix into vegetable soup.
Try it in this mushroom and goat's cheese tortilla recipe
Mint
Eat with: roast lamb either as leaves or as mint sauce, or torn up in salads, or with new potatoes.
Try it in this rack of lamb with minted peas recipe
Lavender
Eat with: robust meat dishes or sparingly with strong sweet and chocolate flavours.
Try it in this pressed chocolate and lavender torte recipe
Sorrel
Eat with: torn in salads, or in fresh spring and summer tarts and the like.
Try it in this spring vegetable tarte fine recipe
This is a classic lovefood article that has been updated
Chervil image courtesy of N8dawg; Parsley image courtesy of Donovan Govan; Sage image courtesy of Petar43; Coriander image courtesy of Thamizhpparithi Maari; Marjoram image courtesy of Dobromila; Lovage image courtesy of 4028mdk09; Bay leaf image courtesy of Benjamint444; Borage image courtesy of Schnobby; Dill image courtesty of H. Zell
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