Chives
An onion-tasting herb with long, thin, hollow stems. One of the most versatile of fresh herbs, chives are best used at the last minute as they don't stand up well to long, slow cooking and wilt quickly if boiled or grilled.
They're easy to snip with scissors and go well with eggs, soups, salads, all types of potato dishes, fish, cream cheeses, dips, flavoured oils and dressings. The plants produce lovely, blue pom-pom flowers that are also edible.
Store fresh chives wrapped in damp kitchen paper in a plastic bag or container and use within several days.
Coriander
One of the most popular herbs used in our cooking today, coriander has found a home in a variety of ethnic dishes: Thai, Indian, Chinese, Latin American (where is it called cilantro), Indonesian, Vietnamese, Arabian, African and Portuguese.
Coriander has soft, delicate leaves somewhat resembling flat-leaf parsley but with a vibrant and distinctive taste. Use it to garnish salads, soups, fresh sauce and dips, and scatter it over grilled meat and fish. It can even complement fruit, as in a Mango and Pineapple Salsa. Stir it in at the last minute to tomato-based sauces and Indian or Thai dishes. It's also excellent in a Chilli and Guacamole. Just use generously, as subtle treatment gives little reward.
Dandelion
Usually thought of as an annoying weed in the garden, young dandelion leaves are very good in salads.
Dill
A fine, wispy-leafed herb, dill has many uses in many cultures. Used to impart flavour to ‘dill pickles’ or pickled gherkins from America, it also is closely associated with fish. The Scandinavians use a lot of dill, notably in gravad lax, the dish of preserved raw salmon.
Dill is best added to dishes at the last minute as prolonged cooking diminishes its flavour. It dries successfully and this form still holds plenty of its fresh flavour. Use in potato salads, cucumber and tomato salsas, and sprinkle over vegetables, grilled fish and chicken.
Fennel
A tall plant whose feathery leaves resemble dill in larger form. It has a liquorice-like taste and is very good with fish. It's rarely available to buy in supermarkets so the best way is to grow your own. Not to be confused with the vegetable version, Florence fennel, which produces a fat bulb and very little leaf. As with dill, fennel is delicious in fish sauces, dips, potato and other root vegetable dishes, and mayonnaise, and works well sprinkled over grilled summer vegetables.
Fines Herbes
Classic French mixture of chervil, chives, parsley and tarragon, chopped finely and added to dishes at the last minute. This combination has a particular affinity with cooked egg dishes, white meat and fish.
Garlic
While not exactly a herb, garlic is a member of the lily family related to chives, leeks, onions and shallots. Its distinct flavour can be found in dishes all over the world, and it is one of the most essential ingredients in any kitchen.
The strength of garlic is relative to how much you assault it. Leave a clove whole and in its skin and very little of the characteristic garlic strength will escape. Roasted like this, the flesh becomes soft and mellow and is wonderful squeezed out and added to sauces. Peel the skin away and you will start to get more garlic smell and flavour. Add a peeled clove to oil and vinegar salad dressings to impart a subtle garlic flavour. Slice it, penetrating deep into the flesh and you release its classic, pungent scent. Chopping and crushing releases the fullest flavour.
Ginger
Like garlic, ginger is also not a herb but worth mentioning in this context. In its fresh form, it's a root from a tropical plant. The skin is peeled to reveal a pale flesh with a fresh, spicy fragrance. Chopped, sliced or grated, it is used extensively in Thai, Chinese and Indian cooking. Also available as a spice.
Herbes de Provence
A mixture of dried herbs from the South of France. It can include any grouping of herbs native to that area; for example, savory, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, oregano, basil, bay, sage, hyssop and lavender. Used fresh in summer months, it's usually sold dried and used to flavour soups and stews, and is good rubbed into chicken or fish before grilling.
HyssopA strong flavoured herb whose leaves can be eaten in salads, sprinkled on meat and fish or used in soups, stews and fruit dishes. Bees love it, and it makes for wonderful honey.
Kaffir lime leaves
Grown in Southeast Asia, these highly aromatic leaves are distinctively Thai - no green curry would be complete without their unique, citrus flavour. They can be used fresh or dried.
Lavender
An aromatic herb with blue-grey spiky leaves and pale to dark purple flowers, depending on the variety. Usually used for its perfume scent but can also be used in cooking, both sweet and savoury.
Lemon balm
A lemon scented plant whose leaves can be used in salads, sauces, herb butters and fresh salsas. Also consider sprinkling it over chicken or fish, and using it to infuse custards and ice-creams.
Lemon verbena
Another lemon-scented plant, this one native to South America, whose leaves go well with just about anything that benefits from the lemon fruit, both sweet and savoury.
Lemon Grass
Native to India and Asia, this herb has long, tough leaves that wrap around a bulbous base. The citrus aroma is contained in oil sacs around the base, so it's worth bashing the base of the stem with the handle of knife to release the oils. Once the tough outer leaves have been peeled away, the softer core can be chopped or sliced and added to soups and stir-fries or used to infuse sugar syrups.
Lovage
A tall plant with a strong celery-like flavour, good for flavouring stocks and soups. The leaves are occasionally available in supermarkets.
Marjoram(sweet marjoram)
A subtle, soft-leaved herb with a flavour similar to thyme. It's best added to soups or stews at the end of cooking or to stuffings or egg dishes. Wild marjoram is another name for oregano.
Mint
A prolific plant that can run rampant in the garden, mint comes in dozens of varieties. A popular herb in this country, it has many uses in cooking: in fruit salads, with fresh peas, carrots and new potatoes, infused in teas and, of course as mint sauce. It also plays an important part in dishes from around the world, where it's used in salads, yoghurt sauces, cous cous, tabbouleh, relishes and soups.
Mint has a fresh flavour and is best used raw or added at the very last minute of cooking. It can be stored wrapped in damp kitchen paper in a plastic bag or container for 2–3 days in the fridge. Since it's so easy to grow, it's best picked and used fresh.
Oregano
Also known as wild marjoram, this is one of the few herbs whose flavour improves with drying. Native to and used extensively in the Mediterranean, oregano has a natural affinity with tomatoes, olives and olive oil, lemons and garlic, and is the principle herb used in pizza sauce.
When used in the dried form, oregano develops more flavour with long, slow cooking. Its flavour varies depending on where it is grown, with hotter climates producing the better tasting herb. It is similar to sweet marjoram but is more pungent and slightly bitter.
Use in marinades and slow-cooked stews, tomato sauces, breads, Greek salads and most Mediterranean casseroles.
Parsley
The most used herb in this country, parsley can be said to enhance almost any savoury dish, both fresh or cooked. It comes in two forms, curly and flat-leaf. The taste is practically indistinguishable so it is more a matter of preference or availability. Though available in dried form, it has no taste and is a waste of time.
Parsley has a fresh, ‘green’ flavour and contains generous quantities of iron and vitamins A and C. It also has the ability to dispel the intense flavour of garlic on the breath. It's good in green salads, salsas, cold salads such potato, cous cous, tabbouleh and cucumber, and is the primary ingredient in salsa verde, the French persillade (parsley sauce) and the Italian gremolata (a mixture of parsley, garlic and lemon zest).
Store in damp kitchen paper in a plastic bag or container in the fridge for up to five days. It can also be plunged in a jar or vase of water and kept on the window sill.
Rocket
Also called arugula or roquette, this salad herb (actually a weed) enjoyed a burst of fame in the 1990s in bistros and posh restaurants and is now widely available in the packet salad sections of most big supermarkets. It has a peppery flavour and is delicious on its own, mixed with other salad leaves, on sandwiches or tossed through hot dishes such as pasta or rice. Also good in soups and sauces, whole or chopped, and as a base for chicken or fish.
Rosemary
Another Mediterranean native, this versatile herb has long, needle shaped leaves and a strong flavour reminiscent of lemon and pine. It's famous for its association with lamb but equally good with pork, stronger flavoured fish and shellfish (scallops in particular), roasted vegetables, potatoes and Italian breads. Like other Med herbs it goes well with the foods of that region, namely olive oil, garlic and red onions.
The sturdy stems make it easy to stick sprigs directly into meat joints, or you can remove the spiky leaves and use the naked stems as skewers on the barbecue. Rosemary bushes are hardy and easy to grow and therefore need regular cutting back. Throw the branches on to the barbecue itself and the food will take on a subtle rosemary aroma. As it's an evergreen plant, and available year round, there is little point in using dry – the flavour is inferior and the hard, dry leaves are unpleasant to eat.
Sage
An assertive herb, sage is a soft-leaf herb with a taste similar to camphor. In the UK, it mostly associated with pork – although it also goes well with goose and duck – and is most famous for its partnership with onion as a stuffing for turkey and chicken.
It stays in leaf all year round. The dried version is has a strong and musty taste, so there's little point in using it. The leaves are quite robust and will keep wrapped in a plastic bag (not damp kitchen paper) for at least a week.
Savory
This herb comes in two forms, winter and summer. They have a similar flavour, the summer version being slightly milder and with a hint of mint. Both varieties have a close affinity with beans (it's said to have anti-flatulence properties) and other pulses as well as with root vegetables and artichokes. Also good with meats, stews, stuffing and marinades, and can be included in a bouquet garni.
Sorrel
A leaf herb resembling spinach, sorrel is used mainly in soups and sauces, although the younger, less acidic leaves can be added raw to salads.
Tarragon
A strong, aniseed-perfumed herb, the delicate leaves pack a punch so use in moderation. It goes beautifully with chicken and some fish, and also with potatoes and eggs. Store fresh sprigs in a plastic bag in the fridge. The dried form is tolerable but inferior in taste. French tarragon is the one to cook with – avoid Russian tarragon as it has no flavour and is useless in the kitchen.
Thyme
A herb for all sorts of savoury dishes, garden or common thyme is the one most used in cooking, though there are many other varieties, including lemon, wild, caraway and variegated. The leaves are tiny on tough, stringy stems and can be removed and sprinkled into dishes or the whole stem thrown in where the leaves will melt into the dish. Just remember to remove the stems before serving (or warn your guests.)
Thyme has a warm, spicy flavour and stands up well to long, slow cooking, especially casseroles. Dried thyme is not exactly the same but works well when no fresh is available. Wrap fresh sprigs in damp kitchen paper and store in the fridge for a week or two.
Got a question about buying, growing or using herbs? Post your queries to Terry, the iVillage Cooking Coach.
Frances and Tom Bissell are also on hand to answer your general food and drink questions.