Onion. Many plants in the genus Allium are known by the common name onion but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa. Allium cepa is also known as the 'garden onion' or 'bulb' onion and 'shallot'. Allium cepa is known only in cultivation, but related wild species occur in Central Asia.Onions, one of the oldest vegetables known to mankind, are found in a bewildering array of recipes and preparations, spanning almost the totality of the world's cultures; they are nowadays available in fresh, frozen, canned, pickled, and dehydrated forms. Onions can be used, usually chopped or sliced, in almost every type of food, including cooked foods and fresh salads, and as a spicy garnish; they are rarely eaten on their own but usually act as accompaniment to the main course. Depending on the variety, an onion can be sharp, spicy, tangy and pungent or mild and sweet.
Onions pickled in vinegar are eaten as a snack. These are often served as a side serving in fish and chip shops throughout the United Kingdom. Onions are a staple food in India, and are therefore fundamental to Indian cooking. They are commonly used as a base for curries, or made into a paste and eaten as a main course or as a side dish.
History. The onion is easily propagated, transported and stored. The Ancient Egyptians worshipped it, believing that its spherical shape and concentric rings symbolized eternal life. Onions were even used in Egyptian burials as evidenced by onion traces being found in the eye sockets of Ramesses IV. They believed that if buried with the dead, the strong scent of onions would bring breath back to the dead.
In ancient Greece, athletes ate large quantities of onion because it was believed that it would lighten the balance of blood. Roman gladiators were rubbed down with onion to firm up their muscles. In the Middle Ages onions were such an important food that people would pay for their rent with onions and even give them as gifts. Doctors were known to prescribe onions to facilitate bowel movements and erection, and also to relieve headaches, coughs, snakebite and hair loss. The onion was introduced to North America by Christopher Columbus on his 1492 expedition to Haiti Onions were also prescribed by doctors in the early 1500s to help with infertility in women, and even dogs and cattle and many other household pets. However, recent evidence has proven that dogs, cats, and other animals should NOT be given onions in any form, due to toxicity during digestion.
In ancient Greece, athletes ate large quantities of onion because it was believed that it would lighten the balance of blood. Roman gladiators were rubbed down with onion to firm up their muscles. In the Middle Ages onions were such an important food that people would pay for their rent with onions and even give them as gifts. Doctors were known to prescribe onions to facilitate bowel movements and erection, and also to relieve headaches, coughs, snakebite and hair loss. The onion was introduced to North America by Christopher Columbus on his 1492 expedition to Haiti Onions were also prescribed by doctors in the early 1500s to help with infertility in women, and even dogs and cattle and many other household pets. However, recent evidence has proven that dogs, cats, and other animals should NOT be given onions in any form, due to toxicity during digestion.
Culinary: Onions, one of the oldest vegetables known to mankind, are found in a bewildering array of recipes and preparations, spanning almost the totality of the world's cultures; they are nowadays available in fresh, frozen, canned, pickled, and dehydrated forms. Onions can be used, usually chopped or sliced, in almost every type of food, including cooked foods and fresh salads, and as a spicy garnish; they are rarely eaten on their own but usually act as accompaniment to the main course. Depending on the variety, an onion can be sharp, spicy, tangy and pungent or mild and sweet.
Basil (Ocimum basilicum) of the Family Lamiaceae, is also known as Sweet Basil .It is a tender low-growing herb that is grown as a perennial in warm, tropical climates. Basil is originally native to India and other tropical regions of Asia, having been cultivated there for more than 5,000 years. It is prominently featured in varied cuisines throughout the world including Italian, Thai, Vietnamese and Laotian. It grows to between 30–60 cm tall, with opposite, light green, silky leaves 3–5 cm long and 1–3 cm broad. The flowers are quite big, white in color and arranged in a terminal spike. Unusual among Lamiaceae, the four stamens and the pistl are not pushed under the upper lip of the corolla, but lay over the inferior. After entomophilous pollination, the corolla falls off and four round achenes develop inside the bilabiate calyx. The plant tastes somewhat like anise, with a strong, pungent, sweet smell. Basil is very sensitive to cold, with best growth in hot, dry conditions. While most common varieties are treated as annuals, some are perennial, including African Blue and Holy Thai basil. Culinary: one of the most used aromatic plants in the kitchen to give flavour to salads, sauces, soups, cheeses. It is the main ingredient of the famous pesto alla genovese. The juice of its leaves rubbed on the skin keeps away moskitos.
Thyme is a genus of about 350 species of aromatic perennial herbaceous plants and sub-shrubs to 40 cm tall, in the family Lamiaceae and native to Europe, North Africa and Asia. A number of species have different chemotype. The stems tend to be narrow or even wiry; the leaves are evergreen in most species, arranged in opposite pairs, oval, entire, and small, 4-20 mm long. The flowers are in dense terminal heads, with an uneven calyx, with the upper lip three-lobed, and the lower cleft; the corolla is tubular, 4-10 mm long, and white, pink or purple.Ancient Egyptians used thyme in embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, believing that thyme was a source of courage. It was thought that the spread of thyme throughout Europe was thanks to the Romans, as they used it to purify their rooms and to "give an aromatic flavour to cheese" and liqueurs". In the European Middle Ages, the herb was placed beneath pillows to aid sleep and ward off nightmares. (Huxley 1992). In this period, women would also often give knights and warriors gifts that included thyme leaves as it was believed to bring courage to the bearer. Thyme was also used as incense and placed on coffins during funerals as it was supposed to assure passage into the next life.[
Culinary: thyme is used most widely in cooking and provides lots of iron. Thyme is a basic ingredient in French, Greek, Italian, Persian, Spanish and Turkish cuisines, and in those derived from them. It is also widely used in Lebanese and Caribbean cuisines.
Thyme is often used to flavour meats, soups and stews. It has a particular affinity to and is often used as a primary flavour with roasted meats ,lamb, tomatoes, sauces, vegetables, mushrooms, aromatic oils and vinegar. Thyme, while flavourful, does not overpower and blends well with other herbs and spices.
In French cuisine, along with bay and parsley it is a common component of the bouquet garni, and of herbes de Provence. In some Middle Eastern countries, the condiment za'atar contains thyme as a vital ingredient.
Bay leaf (plural bay leaves) is the aromatic leaf of several species of the Laurel family (Lauraceae). Fresh or dried bay leaves are used in cooking for their distinctive flavor and fragrance.Laurus nobilis, is a culinary herb often used to flavor soups, stews, and braises and pâtés in Mediterranean Cuisine. The fresh leaves are very mild and do not develop their full flavor until several weeks after picking and drying. Ancient Greeks and Romans crowned victors with wreaths of laurel. The term "baccalaureate," means laurel berry, and refers to the ancient practice of honoring scholars and poets with garlands from the bay laurel tree. Romans felt the leaves protected them against thunder and the plague. Later, Italians and the English believed bay leaves brought good luck and warded off evil. The given name and surname "Laurence," is derived from the Roman name for the plant and the honorary practices using its boughs of leaves and berries.
Culinary: Bay leaves are a fixture in the cooking of many European cuisines (particularly those of the Mediterranean), as well as in North America. They are used in soups, stews, meat, seafood, and vegetable dishes. The leaves also flavor classic French dishes such as bouillabaise and bouillon. The leaves are most often used whole (sometimes in a bouquet garni), and removed before serving. In Indian cuisine, bay leaves are often used in biryani and many salads.
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a bright green, biennial herb, also used as spice. It is very common in Middle Eastern, European, and American cooking. Parsley is used for its lea in much the same way as coriander (which is also known as Chinese parsley or cilantro), although it has a milder flavor. Two forms of parsley are used as herbs: curly leaf and Italian, or flat leaf (P. neapolitanum). Curly leaf parsley is often used as a garnish. Many people think flat leaf parsley has a stronger flavor, and this opinion is backed by chemical analysis which finds much higher levels of essential oil in the flat-leaved cultivars. One of the compounds of the essential oil is apiol. The use of curly leaf parsley may be favored by some because it cannot be confused with poison hemlock like flat leaf parsley or chervil.Parsley is widely used as a companion plant in gardens. Like many other umbellifers, it attracts predatory insects, including wasps and predatory flies to gardens, which then tend to protect plants nearby. They are especially useful for protecting tomato plants, for example the wasps that kill tomato hornworms also eat nectar from parsley. While parsley is biennial, not blooming until its second year, even in its first year it is reputed to help cover up the strong scent of the tomato plant, reducing pest attraction.
Culinary: In parts of Europe, and particularly in West Asia, many foods are served with chopped parsley sprinkled on top. The fresh flavor of parsley goes extremely well with fish. Parsley is a key ingredient in several West Asian salads, e.g., tabbouleh which is the national dish of Lebanon. In Southern and Central Europe, parsley is part of bouquet garni, a bundle of fresh herbs used to flavor stocks, soups, and sauces. Additionally, parsley is often used as a garnish. Persillade is mixture of chopped garlic and chopped parsley. Gremolata is a mixture of parsley, garlic, and lemon zest. Its leaves are widely used in the kitchen to flavour soups, fish, vegetables, cheeses: they are added at the last minute because with cooking most of the aroma is lost
Hot chili pepper, chilli pepper, or more simply just "chili", is the fruit of the plants from the genus Capsicum, which are members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Even though chilis may be thought of as a vegetable, their culinary usage is generally as a spice, the part of the plant that is usually harvested is the fruit, and botany considers the plant a berry shrub. The name, which is spelled differently in many regions (chili, chile, or chilli), comes from Nahuatl via the Spanish word chile. The term chili in most of the world refers exclusively to the smaller, hot types of capsicum. The mild larger types are called bell pepper in the United States, Canada (and sometimes the United Kingdom), sweet pepper in Britain and Ireland, capsicum in India and Australasia, and paprika in many European countries. Finally, bell peppers are often named simply by their colour (e.g. green or red pepper).Culinary:it is an antifermentative and it goes well with all meats especially in hot monts. Its fruits whole, chopped or grounded are used to flavour lots of dishes. It is a digestive.
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a hardy, umbelliferous, perennial herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves, that grows wild in most parts of temperate Europe, but is generally considered indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean, whence it spreads eastwards to India. It has followed civilization, especially where Romans have colonized, and may be found growing wild in many parts of the world upon dry soils near the sea-coast and upon river-banks. It is a member of the family Apiaceae. It is a highly aromatic and flavorful herb with culinary and medicina uses, and is one of the primary ingredients of absinthe. Fennel is used as a food plant by the larvaeof some Lepidoptera species including the Mouse Moth and the Anise Swallowtail.Culinary:its fruits (called seeds) go well with porchetta and all meats. Fresh leaves are used to give flavour to salads, fish dishes sauces and balsamic vinegar. The wild fennel is used in Sicily to prepare pasta con le sarde.
Mentha (mint) is a genus of about 25 species (and many hundreds of varieties) of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae (Mint Family). Species within Mentha have a subcosmopolitan distribution across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America. Several mint hybrids commonly occur.Mints are aromatic, almost exclusively perennial, rarely annual, herbs. They have wide-spreading underground rhizomes and erect, branched stems. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, from simple oblong to lanceolate, often downy, and with a serrated margin. Leaf colors range from dark green and gray-green to purple, blue and sometimes pale yellow. The flowers are produced in clusters ('verticils') on an erect spike, white to purple, the corolla two-lipped with four subequal lobes, the upper lobe usually the largest. The fruit is a small dry capsule containing one to four seeds.While the species that make up the Mentha genus are widely distributed and can be found in many environments, many grow best in wet environments and moist soils. Mints will grow 10–120 cm tall and can spread over an indeterminate sized area. Due to the tendency to spread unchecked, mints are considered invasive. Culinary: the leaf, fresh or dried, is the culinary source of mint. Fresh mint is usually preferred over dried mint when storage of the mint is not a problem. The leaves have a pleasant warm, fresh, aromatic, sweet flavor with a cool aftertaste. Mint leaves are used in teas, beverages, jellies, syrups, candies, and ice creams. In Middle Eastern cuisine mint is used on lamb dishes. In British cuisine, mint sauce is popular with lamb.
Common Sage (Salvia officinalis) is a small evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. It is native to the Mediterranean region.It is much cultivated as a kitchen and medicinal herb, and, according to certain sources, grows in every field. Common sage is also grown in parts of Europe, especially the Balkans for distillation of the essential oil, though other species, such as Salvia triloba may also be harvested and distilled with it.It is also called Garden sage, Kitchen sage, and Dalmatian sage. The word sage or derived names are also used for a number of related and non related species.Culinary: the leaves are very much used in the kitchen to give aroma to foods and facilitate digestion. They are usually used to season pasta and gnocchi in butter, toprepare sauces , roasted meats , fish. legumes, oils and aromatic vinegar. Leaves dipped in batter and fried are very good.
Rosemary is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant evergreen needle-like leaves. It is native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which also includes many other herbs. The name rosemary has nothing to do with the rose or the name Mary, but derives from the Latin name rosmarinus, which literally means "dew of the sea", though some think this too may be derived from an earlier name.The fresh and dried leaves are used frequently in traditional Mediterranean cuisine as an herb; they have a bitter, astringent taste, which complements a wide variety of foods. A tisane can also be made from them. They are extensively used in cooking, and when burned give off a distinct mustard smell, as well as a smell similar to that of burning which can be used to flavor foods while barbecueing. Rosemary is extremely high in iron, calcium, and Vitamin B6Culinary: it is used to give flavour to meats, fish, soups, focaccia, oil and aromatic vinegar. It is a depurative and digestive.
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