briciole

timo

thyme or thymus
In Italian we use the same word to refer to thyme, the beloved herb, and to thymus, the lymphoid organ located behind the sternum. I will devote the rest of the post to timo, the herb.

The genus Thymus, family Labiatae, contains many species. I planted two of them in my little herb garden: Lemon Thyme (photo on the left), and German (Winter) Thyme (photo on the right). I also have some Silver Thyme in a big pot in front of the house: its leaves have a silver rim. I love thyme and I use its tiny fragrant leaves often. They are precious little things, with an enormous power to impart flavor. I don't recall my mother ever using thyme in her cooking, so this herb is a relatively new discovery for me.

For this post, I decided to invent something. Last Wednesday evening, I was by myself for dinner, a rather unusual occurrence. Besides foglie di timo (thyme leaves), I wanted to eat a beautiful porro (leek) leftover from a recent purchase at the farmers' market, and here is what I did. I washed the leek, white and light green part, following Lucy's method, then sliced it. In the meantime, I warmed up a small frying pan generously sprayed with olive oil. I added the leek slices and the leaves of two sprigs of thyme, then cooked, over medium-low heat, until the leek was soft to my liking, stirring every now and then to avoid sticking. I added some vegetable broth to keep the leek moist¹.

When the leek was ready, I adjusted the salt and sprinkled a few leaves of maggiorana (marjoram), an herb I like a lot as well, which is conveniently planted next to my lemon thyme. While the leek was cooking, I poached an egg, following the instructions on this page (option: No poacher). Poached egg is uovo in camicia (shirt). A few seconds before the egg was ready, I spooned the leek in a bowl, then gently placed the poached egg over the prepared pale green bed and finished off the dish with a tablespoon of freshly-grated parmigiano. I took a quick photo and then enjoyed my creation, especially the bites that got some of the yolk mixed with the leek. I definitely will make this again. Note that I did not use any salt (besides that in the water for poaching the egg), but you can certainly do it, adding it to the leek when it is cooked.

¹ Addendum: I have since made the dish a couple more times and measured a quarter cup of added liquid, 2 tablespoons broth, 1 tablespoon water and 1 tablespoon white wine.

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, a food blogging event started over two years ago by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen and hosted this week by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and a very kind cook, too. Susan has announced that she will give away a copy of Aliza Green’s "Field Guide to Herbs and Spices" to one of the participants. Thanks Susan! Here is the roundup of WHB #129.

Hear me pronounce the words on the timo audio file [mp3] or go to the timo audio page for more listening options.

santoreggia

There are two main kinds:

1. santoreggia: summer savory (Satureia hortensis)
2. santoreggia montana: winter savory (Satureia montana)

The word comes from the Latin satura, indicating a mixed dish, usually of legumes, which was seasoned with santoreggia and other herbs. According to my dictionary, there is also an influence of the word santo (holy) as a reference to the therapeutic properties of the plant, which have been known since ancient times. Santoreggia has a flavor reminiscent of thyme, with mint and pepper tones. Besides being used as seasoning, it is an ingredients of herb liqueurs.

My experience with savory prior to last Sunday, when I bought the lovely plant you can see on this page, was exactly equal to zero, but I will catch up rapidly. I used a few leaves right away to season an improptu salad I made with quinoa, a roasted red bell pepper, grilled tofu and toasted pistachios (pistacchi, which I will talk about in an upcoming post) and I could taste it among the other herbs I had used. My next step will be to 'do as the Romans did' and use santoreggia to season legumes, like the lentils (lenticchie) I have in my cupboard.

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, a food blogging event started by Kalyn's Kitchen, hosted this week by The Chocolate Lady from In Mol Araan. Here's the roundup of WHB #92.

Hear me pronounce the words on the santoreggia audio file [mp3] or go to the santoreggia audio page for more listening options.

prezzemolo

parsley
a.k.a. Petroselinum sativum Hoffm., Petroselinum hortense Auct., Petroselinum crispum Hill (apparently, these are all synonyms)

Prezzemolo derives from the Greek word petroselion, meaning celery of the rocks, and it refers to the fact that the herb can grow on less than hospitable terrain. I find this particularly encouraging, because I consider my little herb garden a rather welcoming place, which means parsley should find adequate accommodation in it.

The best known varieties are the one with flat leaves, most commonly used in Italy, and the one with curly leaves, which I had never seen before moving to California.

In Italy we often use the expression come il prezzemolo (like parsley) to describe someone or something that tends to be always present, because parsley is an almost ubiquitous ingredient of Italian savory dishes and it is the base of many sauces. Prezzemolo is a component of gli odori, our version of the bouquet garni. When I went grocery shopping for my mother as a child I always had this item on my list, and I would get it for free from our neighborhood fruit and vegetable store. The owner prepared it on the fly, choosing among what he had available: a few sprigs of parsley, a carrot and a celery rib were a constant presence, while other components varied according to the season.

I have to admit I am still not adjusted to the fact that here I have to buy a big bunch of parsley: I would prefer to get a smaller quantity, even though that would mean buying it more often. About a month ago I scattered a small package of parsley seeds in a corner of my herb garden. I could not see anything happening, so last Saturday I bought a small plant of parsley Gigante d'Italia to cheer me up. When I went to transplant it, I noticed green speckles where I had put down the seeds, so I am hoping that in time the plant will have plenty of company. Then I will be able to pick prezzemolo fresco for my dishes not far from where I am preparing them. On this page you can see the plant and the promise of plants to be.

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, a food blogging event started by Kalyn's Kitchen, hosted this week by the founder herself, just returned from a trip to San Francisco. Here is the roundup of WHB #89.

Hear me pronounce the words on the prezzemolo audio file [mp3] or go to the prezzemolo audio page for more listening options.

ruchetta

Ruchetta or rucola is one of those names that are used to indicate more than one thing, which is a recipe for confusion. First there is rucola selvatica, Diplotaxis tenuifolia. Before moving from Italy to The United States of Arugula, I only knew ruchetta as an ingredient of my salad days.

• Memory #1: both my mother and my aunt Lucia would gather ruchetta in uncultivated patches of land around where they lived, then add a few leaves to a salad of mixed greens to spice it up: and spicy it was!
• Memory #2: at any of the colorful, noisy and lively neighborhood markets in Rome, sellers would offer mixed salad greens with or without ruchetta, which in the Roman dialect is pronounced rughetta. I was told that it was because the pungent flavor of the herb was not to everybody's liking.

When I moved to California, I saw that restaurants served arugula salad and that puzzled me, because I thought that a salad made just with ruchetta would have too strong a flavor. However, sui gusti non si discute, there's no accounting for taste, so I never said anything. It wasn't until much later, basically until now, that I discovered that there is another rucola, Eruca sativa, which has wider leaves, a milder flavor and is cultivated for use in salads. It is from Eruca that the word rucola derives and this is the arugula much beloved in this country and available also in Italy. Arugula is also known as rocket salad. In the rocket department, rucola selvatica is featured as wild rocket.

I am never surprised when scientists discover that plants that humans have been eating for centuries are full of nutrients. Arugula contains vitamin C and bioactive phytochemicals, packaged in a flavor that can be mild or strong, according to our personal taste. Doesn't this sound like a perfect advertisement for a salad green?

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, a food blogging event started by Kalyn's Kitchen, hosted this week by Paulchen's Food Blog. Here's the roundup of WHB #88.

Hear me pronounce the words (including an approximate rendition of Roman accent) on the ruchetta audio file [mp3] or go to the ruchetta audio page for more listening options.

salvia

sage
Salvia officinalis
Ancient Greeks and Romans prized sage for its medicinal qualities and it was only in the Middle Ages that people started to use it as an ingredient in food preparations. The name reflects sage's fame as a plant with curative properties: salvia, in fact, derives from the Latin adjective salvus, meaning safe, healthy.

Salvia has a distinct flavor, which makes it a beloved herb in the kitchen. It is also a pretty plant, with velvety leaves that sparkle in the sun and delicately-colored flowers. Nowadays there are many cultivars of sage, some of them selected for ornamental use.

I am reminded of salvia every time I use the word salve, a common greeting in Italian, which literally means 'be healthy.' In the medieval poem Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum, the Salernitan Rule of Health, a work from the medical school of Salerno, a verse asks: 'why should a man die who has sage in his garden?' Hence, to be on the safe side, I planted some Golden sage (Salvia officinalis icterina), a pretty and flavorful cultivar.

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, a food blogging event started by Kalyn's Kitchen, hosted this week by Küchenlatein, whom I would like to thank for offering me a nice way of brushing up my German. Here is the roundup of WHB #86.

Hear me pronounce the words on the salvia audio file [mp3] or go to the salvia audio page for more listening options.

maggiorana

marjoram
Origanum majorana (Majorana hortensis)
Mediterranean people have been using marjoram both as a culinary and a medicinal herb since ancient times. Besides being prized for its flavor, fragrance and curative properties, marjoram was considered a symbol of happiness.

Sweeter than thyme and milder than oregano, as seasoning marjoram can be used either fresh (recommended) or dried (if you have no choice). Its fragrance is sensitive to heat and therefore, if you plan to add it to a cooked dish, do so at the very end. Marjoram is perfect over pizza, with vegetables, meat, fish and beans. With such a versatility in its resume, hiring (that is, growing) marjoram in your herb garden is an easy choice.

One hypothesis regarding the origin of its name purports that women devoted 'major' attention to the cultivation of the plant, whose fragrance they loved above all else.

Marjoram is particularly popular in the Italian region of Liguria, where it is called erba persa, Persian herb, a reference to an origin from the Middle East that is not accurate, since marjoram's birth place appears to be Africa. Marjoram is an ingredient of salsa di noci (walnut sauce) used to season traditional Ligurian pasta . The entry for pesto in a 1876 text mentions parsley and marjoram as possible ingredients for the famous green sauce, instead of basil.

On this page there are two photos of marjoram in my herb garden. I picked a few leaves yesterday and added them to risotto with pattypan squash: the result was delicious, with the added bonus of a pleasant fragrance on my fingertips.

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, a food blogging event sponsored by Kalyn's Kitchen, hosted this week by the founder herself. Here is the roundup of WHB #85.

Hear me pronounce the words on the maggiorana audio file [mp3] or go to the maggiorana audio page for more listening options.