Category: Herbs

With the whole plant being aromatic, sweet cicely has a musky, attractive aroma with hints of lovage and anise; the flavor has a pleasing sweetness and tends more to anise with a note of celery.

Scented Geranium has hundreds of varieties, including smelling like apple or citrus fruits, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg or mint, roses or pine. Rose- and lemon-scented plants are best for cooking

Salad burnet has a mild, lightly bitter flavor similar of cucumber with a hint of nuttiness and is not aromatic. The old leaves are best cooked because they become bitter.

Although it may have little aroma, Purslane’s fleshy leaves and stems have a refreshing, lightly zesty, lemony taste and a crunchy, luscious texture.

Sweetly yet strongly aromatic, Green perilla has hints of cinnamon, cumin, citrus, and anise basil, and a pleasant warmth on the palate. Red perilla has a more mellow flavor and is less aromatic. It is faintly aged and woody with cumin, cilantro, and cinnamon overtones.

With a tangy and pungent taste, Parsley has a slightly spicy aroma with hints of lemon and a light peppery note. Flat-leaf parsley has a more distinctive and tenacious flavor and texture than curly parsley but similarly bring out the flavors of other seasonings.

Orach leaves have a mild, spinach-like flavor, but is not aromatic, which contrasts well with more piquant salad herbs.

All elements of the plant are aromatic. Myrtle leaves are slightly adherent with a sweet, orange-blossom note; they taste astringent. The berries are sweet with hints of juniper, allspice, and rosemary. The flowers have a more delicate scent.

MItsuba has very little aroma but makes up for it with a distinctive and agreeable taste, showing elements of chervil, angelica, and celery, with something astringency of sorrel and a hint of clove.

Miner’s lettuce is mild and not aromatic but has a clean, refreshing flavor.

Pot marigolds have a sweet aroma, French marigolds a distinct muskiness with hints of light citrus. Fresh marigold petals have an aromatic bitterness and earthy taste, with the leaves being slightly peppery.

With a slightly stronger flavor of cucumber and soft aroma, Borage is fresh-tasting with a modest saltiness.

Bay has a luscious, balsamic aroma with hints of nutmeg and camphor, and a refreshing astringency. Fresh leaves are rather bitter, but the bitterness fades after a day or two. Fully dried leaves have a dominant flavored and are best when only dried recently.

Sweet basil has an intricate sweet, spicy aroma with hints of clove and anise. It has a warm, peppery flavor with hidden mint and anise tones. Purple (opal) basil, bush basil, lettuce basil, and ‘Ruffles’ basils have similar flavors.

Angelica is very aromatic, especially when rubbed, where young stalks and leaves have a sweet, musky scent. With a musky and bittersweet taste, Angelica is slightly earthy and warm with hints of celery, anise, and juniper.