Dill is native to the Mediterranean region and its history goes way back to ancient times. It is mentioned in Egyptian inscriptions where it goes by the name of `ammisi'. The Greeks and Romans, who spread it as far as the northern Alps during their campaigns, called it `anethon' from which is derived the botanical name.
Garlic was even considered to be a sacred plant and ancient Greeks and Romans, believing it to have invigorating properties, fed it to their armies during military campaigns. Patricians, however, disdained garlic, giving it instead to their slaves. Since time immemorial garlic has been a favourite food of the Jews. As the Old Testament tells us the Jews cried to Moses: 'We remember the fish, which we did cat in Egypt freely ... and the leeks and onions and garlic'.
All the upper parts of the plant are aromatic, but it is the tender feathery leaves that have the most delicate aroma and pleasantly sour flavour. The fruits and the entire, unopened flower heads are also used as flavouring, especially for pickling gherkins, cabbage and onions.
Dill is exceptionally good when combined with cream sauces and soups, cream cheese and butter, or with vinegar salad dressings. It is also used as a seasoning with raw vegetables, boiled meat and fish. A simple but tasty dish is boiled and buttered new potatoes or string beans with dill. As a rule it is not used with other herbs because of its distinctive aroma.
The flowers are arranged in loose umbels and are followed by small bulbs. Garlic is a perennial herb propagated by planting the separate cloves directly in the ground where they are to grow, either in autumn or early spring. Bulbs are dug up and harvested when the foliage begins to turn yellow and dry. A very suitable and decorative method of storing garlic is to braid the bulbs together and hang them up in a cool spot.
Wild chives occur in several forms: with leaves rounded to greatly flattened and flowers ranging in colour from white to dark pink. Unlike the leaves, the flowering stems are not hollow. Cultivated varieties are generally larger and more robust but wild chives make an equally good seasoning.
Garlic was even considered to be a sacred plant and ancient Greeks and Romans, believing it to have invigorating properties, fed it to their armies during military campaigns. Patricians, however, disdained garlic, giving it instead to their slaves. Since time immemorial garlic has been a favourite food of the Jews. As the Old Testament tells us the Jews cried to Moses: 'We remember the fish, which we did cat in Egypt freely ... and the leeks and onions and garlic'.
All the upper parts of the plant are aromatic, but it is the tender feathery leaves that have the most delicate aroma and pleasantly sour flavour. The fruits and the entire, unopened flower heads are also used as flavouring, especially for pickling gherkins, cabbage and onions.
Dill is exceptionally good when combined with cream sauces and soups, cream cheese and butter, or with vinegar salad dressings. It is also used as a seasoning with raw vegetables, boiled meat and fish. A simple but tasty dish is boiled and buttered new potatoes or string beans with dill. As a rule it is not used with other herbs because of its distinctive aroma.
The flowers are arranged in loose umbels and are followed by small bulbs. Garlic is a perennial herb propagated by planting the separate cloves directly in the ground where they are to grow, either in autumn or early spring. Bulbs are dug up and harvested when the foliage begins to turn yellow and dry. A very suitable and decorative method of storing garlic is to braid the bulbs together and hang them up in a cool spot.
Wild chives occur in several forms: with leaves rounded to greatly flattened and flowers ranging in colour from white to dark pink. Unlike the leaves, the flowering stems are not hollow. Cultivated varieties are generally larger and more robust but wild chives make an equally good seasoning.
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