Posted by Robin Bellinger, July 8, 2008 at 12:45 PM
One of the things I was most surprised to discover when I began reading about food and pregnancy was that not all herbal teas and infusions are safe for women who are expecting. Despite the evidence that many herbs have been known for millennia to affect human functioning for better or for worse, I vaguely believed that mind would triumph over matter when it came to anything I consumed in reasonable quantities—especially anything as anodyne as chamomile tea. After all, my coffee habit led me to drink five cups some days and allowed me to go without on others. No hot beverage was my master.
Then I decided to give up caffeine for at least the first trimester. Oh, how I missed it! The bottles of beer and glasses of wine I had expected to pine for were quickly forgotten, but I stared at Andrew’s Sunday morning mug with longing. On the streets of New York, everyone from construction workers to beautiful girls seemed to be clutching a giant paper cup of what I craved. Until I passed the first few months and came back to coffee with a new appreciation, decaf Earl Grey provided some comfort in the morning, but I had to admit that I was much more dependent on caffeine than I had known.
Introducing Raspberry Leaf Tea
Although I would have liked to explore the world of herbal teas during those bleak and sluggish months, there seemed to be no agreement about which were safe and which were risky. Lists abound, but they are frequently at odds with one another. So when the doula who ran our childbirth class suggested that we all immediately begin drinking raspberry leaf tea, I should not have been surprised to discover that this was a controversial recommendation.
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Posted by Hannah Howard, July 1, 2008 at 8:15 PM
I thought I had a basic understanding of oregano: I like a healthy dash on my pizza, and always in my feta-laden Greek salads.
But I was wrong. I didn't know that I'm probably using O. heracleoticum, which has a pungent oregano-like taste. Unless O. viride, a seedless cousin, is what's living in my store-bought jar of dried oregano. Or maybe it's Origanum x majoricum, an Italian oregano-marjoram hybrid that the Herb Society of America likes best for culinary use.
Margaret Roach of A Way to Garden learned her oregano lesson the hard way. She wanted to grow a supply of the versatile herb to cook with but didn't end up with what she was expecting:
The plant marked as “Oregano” at the garden center grew lush with little care, a low, green mound with a pleasant aroma if touched. But come harvest time, the oregano leaves tasted like peppery dirt, if that good, and the plant had spread in every direction I did not intend for it. Not exactly what I had in mind for a seasoning with my homegrown tomatoes.
Turns out the world's herb-namers were shockingly promiscuous with the term oregano—they gave the name to a multitude of plants, many of them totally useless in the kitchen. To further complicate matters, Mexican oregano is closely related to lemon verbena, but not at all to Mediterranean oregano. Cuban oregano makes a nice houseplant, Margaret says.
Do you cook with oregano? Which kind? Think you even know which kind now?
Posted by Robyn Lee, October 24, 2007 at 7:15 PM
I did a double-take when I first saw Sara's photo of basil liquor—my first impression was "mint" when I saw the green liquid, but the neighboring tomatoes gave me the sense that it was something else.
Sara describes basilcello as "a very sweet basil liquor that will help take away your indigestion just like the best limoncello." Although anything with alcohol in it tends to give me indigestion, not take it away, I'm curious to find out what this tastes like. Read Sara's recipe to make your own basilcello!
Posted by Robyn Lee, August 2, 2007 at 10:45 AM
Photograph from Paul Goyette on Flickr
How often do you buy a pack of fresh herbs for a recipe only to leave the excess herbs in the refrigerator to wilt and decay? Even if those poor herbs who never get to realize their fullest flavor potential can't sense the pain of turning into a pool of brown mush, it's a waste on your part. How could you kill those defenseless herbs? How?
Maybe you just didn't know how to keep them fresh. If you want to prevent future premature herbal death, read The Washington Post's article about how to preserve fresh herbs, written by Nick Kindelsperger and Blake Royer of The Paupered Chef. They suggest rinsing and drying herbs the day you buy them before wrapping them in a moist paper towel, and putting herb stems in a glass of water to help keep them fresher. If your herbs do reach the point where their texture is less than desirable, just toss them in a blender to make pesto. Your herbs should never go to waste again.
