author Tkachenko K.G., photo Ziborov T.Yu.

In the daily preparation of tasty and nutritious food, as well as in the preservation of vegetables and fruits important component are spicy plants. They are divided into:
- spicy-aromatic(having an original smell);
- spicy flavor(with a specific taste).

Research has established that spicy-aromatic and spicy-flavoring plants have preservative, antiseptic, bactericidal and medicinal properties.
The essential oils included in spices and other valuable physiologically and biologically active substances improve culinary qualities products, excite the activity of taste and digestive organs, cause appetite, enhance digestibility food products, have a positive effect on metabolism, on the activity of the nervous and cardiovascular systems on the general condition of the person.

Unfortunately, we are forced to buy most of the popular spices abroad, since many of them grow only in the tropics and subtropics.
However, on the territory of our country there are many spicy-aromatic and spicy-flavoring plants that grow in nature. In addition, a variety of fragrant plants are traditionally grown in gardens. They are successfully used as complete food plants, as well as first-class spices for various industries and as substitutes for imported spices in home cooking.

Variety of spices

Spices are usually divided into 6 groups:

1. sharp-bitter with a slight aroma(black pepper, mustard, horseradish, etc.);

2. bitter with a sharp spicy smell (allspice, hops, cloves, ginger, angelica, hyssop, calamus, laurel, etc.);

3. with a strong, but not sharp, sweetish aroma and a slight spicy taste(cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, lovage, sweet clover, etc.);

4. with a faint subtle spicy aroma(cardamom, cumin, savory, marjoram, etc.);

5. with highly individual properties(mint, anise, sage, fennel, dill, garlic, onion, killer whale, etc.);

6. drinks(plants that serve to make all kinds of drinks; or plants that flavor drinks made from other plants).

Many cultivated plants are used to give drinks aroma and peculiar taste. For example, peppermint, marjoram, medicinal rosemary, various types of thyme and basil, coriander, dill, fennel, iris (iris) and many other species. For the same purpose, a significant number of plant species of wild flora are used - various types of wormwood, savory, yarrow, calamus, bison, angelica, elecampane, juniper, licorice, barberry, currant, cranberry, etc. At the same time, different types Plants use different parts: roots and rhizomes, leaves, flowers, fruits (seeds).

The use of herbs

One has only to want to add variety to the dishes and enrich your table, wish to surprise family, friends and acquaintances with a new taste or a new dish - all kinds of spices with an original aroma and taste will help with this.

Don't waste time! Sow and grow a variety of herbs in your garden, make extensive use of them fresh and harvest them for future use. Provide yourself until the next season with environmentally friendly fragrant plants. Use dried vegetable raw materials for the preparation of spices, which retain valuable vitamins and trace elements throughout the year.

Kirill Gavriilovich Tkachenko,
Candidate of Biological Sciences, Head of the Group for the Introduction of Medicinal, Forage and Food Plants botanical garden Botanical Institute. V.L. Komarov RAS (St. Petersburg)

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The culinary use of flowers dates back hundreds of years to China, Greece and Rome. Many cultures now use flowers in traditional cuisine- porridge from flowers Italian cuisine and rose petals in Indian cuisine. Adding flowers to ordinary dishes will help to give them a pleasant color, aroma and exoticism. Some edible flowers are spicy, others are herbaceous, and still others are very fragrant. The result of such experiments is always surprising.

An interesting result is obtained if you add flower petals to tea or a salad, but if you use them as a garnish to a salad, or use your imagination and make, for example, homemade pasta rolls with spicy garlic flowers, or add your favorite flower petals to ice cream, or pickle nasturtium buds to prepare pseudocapers. And so many options for using flower syrup!

A small caveat

So, eating flowers can be very pleasurable, but it can also be a little… deadly! Follow these tips and enjoy the unusual taste in complete safety.
. Eat only edible flowers. If in doubt, refer to the appropriate handbook.
. Eat flowers grown by you or in conditions you know. Nursery flowers may be treated with pesticides or other chemicals.
. Do not eat flowers grown near roads or in public parks.
. Eat only the petals, but remove the pistils and stamens.
. If you are allergic, introduce edible flowers into your diet gradually.
. To keep flowers fresh for a long time, keep them in the refrigerator on damp paper. Ice water can refresh the scent of wilted petals.

Onion

All flowers of the onion family (leeks, garlic, garlic field) are edible and very fragrant!

Angelica or Angelica

Depending on the species, flowers range from pale lavender to deep pink and have a licorice scent.

Hyssop anise

The flowers and leaves of this plant have a subtle anise or licorice scent.

Arugula

The flowers are small with a dark center and a peppery scent, just like the leaves.

Cornflower field

Herbal taste. The petals are edible, but avoid the bitter-tasting calyx.

Basil

Petals come in a variety of colors, from white to pink, or lavender. The aroma is similar to the aroma of leaves, but more delicate.

Monarda

The red flowers have a minty scent.

Borage or borage

The flowers have a pleasant blue hue and taste of cucumber!

Calendula

Great edible flower, its petals are peppery, savory and spicy. A wonderful golden color will add zest to any dish.

Carnation

The petals have a taste as sweet as the fragrance.

Chamomile

Chamomile flowers have a sweet fragrance and are often used in tea. If you are allergic to ragweed, be careful.

Chervil

Delicate flowers and a slightly anise-like aroma.

Chicory

The bitter earthiness of chicory is felt in petals and cups suitable for pickling.

Chrysanthemum

A little bitter. It can be any color of the rainbow and have an aroma ranging from peppery to tart. Only the petals are edible.

cilantro

Like the leaves of this plant, people either love its flowers or hate them. The flowers have the same herbaceous scent. Eat them hot, otherwise all the charm will disappear.
Citrus fruits (orange, lemon, grapefruit, kumquat)
Citrus flowers have a sweet taste and a slight aroma. Use them sparingly and you can flavor your food.

Clover

The flowers of this plant are sweet in taste with a hint of licorice.

Dandelion

Young dandelion plants are very delicate and can be used raw in salads and sandwiches. The flowers can be used as an unusual garnish.

Dill

The orange flowers are very similar in taste to the leaves.

Daisy

Not the most pleasant-tasting flowers - bitter, but how wonderful they look in a dish!

Fennel

The yellow flowers of this plant taste like its own leaves.

Fuchsia

Spicy fuchsia flowers can be a beautiful side dish.

Gladiolus

Who would know! Its petals can be stuffed or used as a salad garnish.

Hibiscus

Commonly added to tea, the cranberry flavor is very tart and should be used sparingly.

Altey

Light vegetable aroma, its petals will serve as a bright edible garnish.

Balsam

The petals are practically odorless, suitable for sugaring.

Jasmine

Its super fragrant flowers are used in tea. You can also add them to sweet dishes, but sparingly.

forest violet

Fragrant and tasty, the flowers have a subtle minty aroma and are ideal for salads, pastas, fruit desserts and drinks.

Lavender

Sweet, spicy and fragrant flower. Suitable for both sweets and spicy dishes.

Verbena lemon

The tiny white flowers are reminiscent of lemon scent. Ideal for desserts and tea.

Lily

The flowers are very pungent, but have a delightful floral-citrus scent.

Mint

Flowers are a surprise! - have a mint flavor. Its intensity varies depending on the type of mint.

Nasturtium

One of the most popular edible flowers. Nasturtium petals have a sweet, floral aroma with a spicy, peppery aftertaste.

Oregano

Flowers are a beautiful version of leaves.

Pansies

The petals do not have a characteristic aroma, but if you eat the whole flower, it will turn out quite tasty.

Radish

Radish flowers have a distinct peppery aroma.

Rose

Remove the bitter calyx, the petals have a characteristic fragrant aroma and are ideal for decorating drinks or desserts, or for making jams. All roses are edible, dark varieties are more fragrant than light ones.

Rosemary

The flowers resemble the aroma of the plant itself, good for garnishes.

Sage

flower petals have plant characteristic aroma.

Pumpkin

The flowers of this plant are ideal for stuffing, have a slight aroma. Remove stamens before use.

Sunflower

The petals are edible and the calyx tastes like an artichoke.

Violet

Another popular edible flower. They have a floral aroma, are sweet in taste and are ideal as a side dish for salads and in drinks.

Olga Borodina

Spicy herbs, unlike spicy vegetables, are mostly wild, although some of them (for example, anise, coriander, cumin, mint, dill and lavender) have been introduced into culture by man since ancient times.

The aroma of herbs tends to intensify after drying, but there are herbs that have spicy qualities only when fresh, so they are not dried and transported (this is a group of various watercresses, or semi-herbs). In the vast majority of herbs, one way or another, only the aerial part of the plant is used, and in some, even only the very tops - flowers and seeds. And only two or three types of herbs use roots and rhizomes as food (calamus, gravel, kolyuria and partly angelica, in which all parts of the plant are eaten). Spicy herbs also conventionally include spicy parts of semi-shrub and shrubby plants, such as juniper, rue, etc.

Here are not all, but only the most common and most common types of herbs. Most of them are also known to Russian cuisine of the 16th-18th centuries, and are still widely used in French, German, Swedish cuisines, as well as in the cuisines of the peoples of the Baltic, Caucasus and Central Asia. The difference is only in combinations and forms of use. European cuisines use mainly dried herbs in very small quantities, and in traditional combinations- four - six herbs with one - two classic spices. Oriental cuisines prefer to use large amounts of fresh herbs, and local spices are not always combined with classic ones and the sets of combinations are different, sometimes very different from each other (spicier in Georgia and Armenia, not at all spicy in Azerbaijan, medium-spicy in Central Asia).

Ajgon

(caram ajowan bent, et hook, trachyspermum copticum L.)

Synonyms: iovan, Coptic cumin, Indian cumin, s and ra. An annual herbaceous plant of the Apiaceae family.

Homeland - India. Distributed and partly cultivated in Central Asia.

Azhgon seeds have a sharper, stronger and more pleasant aroma than cumin seeds, they are sharper, burning in taste and sharply different from cumin when heated. Outwardly, they differ from cumin in their smaller size and dark color. Specifically, azhgon is used in Central Asia - in pilafs, in which it cannot be replaced with cumin in any way, as well as in the first and second meat and vegetable dishes, especially in dishes cooked on charcoal.

Abyssinian varieties of ajgon are the most common on the world market.

air

(acorns calamus l.)

Synonyms: ir, irny root, gair, yaver, Tatar potion, cinquefoil, kalmus. Herbaceous perennial of the aroid family.

Motherland-Asia. In the XIII century, the calamus was brought by the Tatars to Poland, where it was introduced into culture, and then, in a wild state, spread to Europe.

In our country, it grows in the territory from Lake Peipus to Astrakhan, in Eastern Siberia, in the Caucasus - in swamps, along the banks of stagnant waters, often in continuous thickets.

A creeping, thick (often 3 cm in diameter) calamus rhizome is used. It is thoroughly cleaned, washed, cut into lengthwise pieces 5 centimeters long and dried in a warm, ventilated room, then finally dried in light heat from the oven. At proper drying the aroma of calamus is completely preserved, reminiscent of the aroma of roses, the roots have a slight pungency, and when chewed - bitter astringency and soapiness.

Calamus is used in the preparation of sweet dishes - for flavoring compotes, kissels, mousses, fruit soups, and also as an additional flavoring of tarragon vinegar. A stick of dry rhizome is placed in a sweet liquid hot dish, usually 3 minutes before readiness, and removed before serving. You can put calamus even 1 minute before readiness, and then let the dish with calamus stand for 5 minutes, but be sure to remove it before serving the dish.

Anise

(pimpinella anisum l.; anisum vulgare gaertn.)

Synonym: g and n at s. Annual herbaceous plant umbrella family.

Homeland - Egypt, Syria.

It is cultivated in the central black earth regions of the RSFSR, in Moldova, Ukraine, and the North Caucasus.

As a spice, anise seeds are used almost exclusively, which are harvested in August - September slightly immature and dried in sheaves. In addition to seeds, you can use immature anise umbrellas, immediately after flowering, using them in pickles, marinades for fruits. Young anise leaves can be introduced into apple salads. But mainly aniseed is used in bakery and confectionery products (anise seed powder is mixed into the dough) and sweet and sour sauces, sweet dishes (compotes, jelly, mousses and jams), and sometimes in vegetable milk and milk soups and gruels.

ANISE

Anise or anise oil is used to make homemade tinctures, liqueurs, beer and home brew, kvass.

This is where the traditional use of anise ends.

Meanwhile, anise is an excellent auxiliary spice that can be widely used to flavor various food products with an unpleasant or specific smell, which for some reason is undesirable.

To do this, anise must be added either during the pre-treatment of the food product, or at the beginning of the preparation of the dish.

After the anise has neutralized the unwanted smell, it must be removed, and those spices that are desirable or traditional should be added to the dish.

So, for example, with the help of anise, you can produce a flavor of fish, meat, vegetable oils (cotton, sunflower, hemp), as well as imitate natural Provence oil.

Basil

(Ocimum basilicum L.)

Synonyms: darlings, fragrant cornflowers, red cornflowers, reagan (Azerbaijan), district (Uzbek.), rean (arm.). An annual herbaceous plant of the mint family.

Homeland - India, Iran. It is cultivated in all countries of Southern Europe, in the USSR - in the North Caucasus, in the Crimea, Moldova,

Transcaucasia and Central Asia. AT middle lane grows well in open ground, and in winter it can be cultivated indoors, in flower pots. The leaves and shoots of basil, collected at the beginning of flowering, are used fresh and dry, and the aroma of it intensifies with proper drying.

Dried in the shade and stored in a dark, hermetically sealed glass container, as basil is sensitive to moisture and light and completely loses its aroma under the influence of them.

Basil is widely used in Western and Southern European, especially French and Greek, as well as in Transcaucasian cuisines. Fresh herbs go to salads, soups and cold dishes. In other cases, basil powder is more often used, and in pickles and fermentations, whole dry stems are used.

In France, basil is found in most sauces and soups, especially vegetable soups, and is an indispensable ingredient in delicacy dishes such as turtle soup and oxtail soup. In England, it is added to dishes containing cheeses and tomatoes, stews, liver pates.

BASIL

Basil goes with green, egg, chicken, crab salads, but not with potato and bean salads.

In egg, pasta dishes, cheese, as well as boiled and jellied fish and stews, basil is added mainly in the form of a powder, during the preparation of the dish, but not earlier than 10 minutes before it is ready.

In chicken and cheese soups, basil is put in combination with savory, which enhances the spice of the dish and gives it a new accent.

With the simultaneous laying of large portions of basil along with cilantro in Uzbek dishes (for example, for stewing meat), basil is taken 4 times less than cilantro.

Mustard

Mustard includes several types of annual herbaceous plants of the cruciferous family, in which only seeds are used as a spice. Mustard seeds are ground into a powder and usually mixed with other spices to enhance and diversify their flavor. There are the following types of mustard:

Black mustard (Brassica nigra Koch.)

Synonyms: real mustard, French mustard.

It is cultivated in the countries of Southern Europe, mainly in France and Italy. In the USSR, it is relatively uncommon, although it can be successfully cultivated in the Krasnodar Territory and in the Transcaucasus.

Black mustard seeds emit a mildly pungent odor when crushed. They are used to prepare the best varieties of table mustard, which are world famous in cooking - Dijon and mustard ravigote sauce.

Sarepta mustard (Brassica juncea Czern.)

Synonyms: Russian mustard, gray mustard.

Widely cultivated in the USSR - in the Volga region, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, the North Caucasus. Found in Siberia Far East, in Central Asia.

Close in basic properties to black mustard. It is usually sold in the form of so-called mustard flour. Powder High Quality(1st grade), has a light shade. It goes to the preparation of ordinary table mustard.

White mustard (Brassica alba Boiss)

Synonyms: yellow mustard, English mustard.

In the USSR, it is cultivated in the central black earth regions and in the southern regions of the RSFSR, as well as in Ukraine, mainly for the purpose of obtaining mustard oil. White mustard seeds are completely odorless, which is why its taste is sharper and rougher. Therefore, table mustard prepared from it is lower in quality than the two types mentioned above and needs additional ennoblement with other spices.

* * *

Mustard can be used not only as a seasoning and flavoring for hot and cold meat dishes, especially sausages and fatty meats, as is usually considered. It can be one of the components of various sauces, as well as an emulsifier, that is, it can serve protective coating during heat treatment of delicate products - poultry meat, veal, fish: fillet (meat or fish) is coated with mustard and baked in this form in the oven - mustard not only prevents the disappearance of juice from one or another type of meat, but also flavors it at the same time. Mustard should be used to emulsify different types of products. different composition, different mixtures, taking into account the compatibility of spices with different food products.

Avens

(Geum urbanum L.)

Synonyms: pharmacy gravel, carnation, comb, chistets, benedict grass, undergrowth, hanger.

Herbaceous perennial plant of the rose family. Distributed throughout the European part of the USSR.

Gravilat root is used as a spice. It must be dug up in early spring, long before the flowering of the plant, because only at this time does the root have a delicate fragrant smell; reminiscent of the smell of cloves. The roots are dried only in the air. Only after the main drying, the gravilate root can be briefly placed in a heated, but already turned off oven. After drying, the smell of gravilat weakens, and disappears completely during long-term storage. Therefore, gravilat should be consumed as soon as possible after preparation.

A pleasant “clove water” is driven from the root along with water. Gravilat is also put into kvass, mash, homemade beer, supplementing or even replacing hops with it. Beer acquires a pleasant smell and resists souring well. Fresh, young gravilata leaves can be used in salads.

Donnyxblue

(melilotus coeraleus Lam.; Trigonella coeralea)

Synonyms: blue sweet clover, blue fenugreek, gunba, blue goat trefoil. An annual herbaceous plant of the legume family.

It occurs in the wild mainly in the foothill regions of the south of the European part of the USSR - in the Crimea, Krasnodar Territory, in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia, and less often - in the foothills of the Tien Shan.

Blue sweet clover has a strong, peculiar aroma. The upper part of the plant is used - part of the leaves with flowers collected at the beginning of flowering. It is used only in dry form (in powder) for addition to homemade cheeses, bakery products, as well as to onion, potato and mushroom soups. AT Food Industry it is used in the production of green cheese, which is given a distinctive color and smell.

Oregano

(origanum vulgare l.)

Synonyms: motherboard, amulet, matserdushka, flea, dushnitsa, countersink, kara gynykh (Azerbaijan), zvirak (arm.), tashava (cargo.). Herbaceous perennial plant of the mint family.

Motherland - England. In the USSR, it is found from Karelia to Transcaucasia.

How the spice is used upper part stem with leaves and flowers, which are harvested in July and August.

Oregano is added to various vegetable soups, sauces, fried, stewed and baked meats. In Russia, oregano was traditionally used in kvass and, in addition to hops, in home-brewed beer, to which it gave the smell and the ability to be preserved for a long time without turning sour.

ORANGE

AT Western Europe oregano is used in the preparation of champignon dishes (in France, Belgium, Germany) and in special cakes - pizza (in Italy).

Angelica

(angelica archangelica l.; Angelica officinalis Hoffm.)

Synonyms: angelica, angelica, angelica, cowshed, sweet trunk.

A biennial herbaceous plant of the umbrella family, up to 2.5 meters high.

Distributed in the European part of the USSR and Western Siberia, grows in damp, rocky places, on the slopes of mountains, ravines, near streams and rivers. Easily propagated from seeds in vegetable gardens.

As a spice, the root is mainly used - thick, spindle-shaped, fleshy, wrinkled; dark outside, white inside. Young rhizomes, young shoots and seeds are also used.

Angelica root produces a pleasant and strong aroma, rhizomes and seeds have a weaker smell, and in young shoots it is completely weakened. Biennial roots have a more pungent odor, annual roots are gentle. The roots are harvested in early spring(April) or autumn, young shoots - only in May, long before the flowering of the plant, the seeds - in August or September.

Fresh roots, rhizomes and shoots are finely chopped into salads to flavor them, as well as into hot vegetable side dishes, where they are laid 3 minutes before readiness, and in soups - 5 minutes before.

From fresh roots boiled in sugar, a kind of jam and candied fruit is obtained. Powdered dry roots are mixed with flour when baking bakery products, as well as in meat sauces, fried meat during cooking (5-7 minutes before cooking). The seeds are used, for example, to flavor homemade vodkas.

Angelica

The peoples of the North of Europe boil the young shoots of angelica in reindeer milk; in France they use angelica juice, insisting on it tinctures and liquors; in Switzerland, angelica root is fermented with water and vodka is distilled from it, and the dry powder of the root is brewed like tea.

Moldavian snakehead

(see Melissa).

Hyssop

(hyssopus officinalis l.)

Synonyms: hysop, susop, yuzefka, blue St. John's wort.

Perennial herbaceous, but strongly lignified plant of the mint family.

Homeland - the Mediterranean.

Cultivated in the south of Ukraine, in the Caucasus, in the Crimea, Central Asia, sometimes runs wild; found in the Kaluga, Orel and Ulyanovsk regions, as well as in Western Siberia (Altai).

HYSSOP

As a spice, young leaves of the tops of hyssop are used, which are necessarily collected on the eve of flowering, as well as buds; both of them - most often in dried form.

Hyssop flavors salads, cold appetizers, meat and vegetable soups, fried meats. In the food industry, it is used to flavor liqueurs.

Kalufer

(tanacetum balsamita l., pyretram balsamita)

Synonyms: kanufer, kanuper, Saracen mint, balsamic mountain ash. Perennial herbaceous plant from the Asteraceae family, from 70 to 130 centimeters high; outwardly similar to tansy, from which it differs only in a special, pleasant "balsamic" smell.

Homeland - Asia Minor. It grows wild in Asia Minor, Iran, Southern Europe, and in the USSR - in the subalpine zone of the Caucasus. In culture, it takes root well in the middle zone of the European part of the USSR. Previously, it was very widespread in gardens and vegetable gardens, propagated by dividing bushes (it has a creeping rhizome).

As a spice, the upper third of the plant is used, the most tender leaves and buds. Therefore, kalufer is harvested before flowering, in July, since the flowering time comes in August or September.

Kalufera herb powder is mainly seasoned with sweet dishes and confectionery, as well as home-made beer and kvass. Olive oil can also be infused on the leaves of the kalufer, which acquires a pleasant taste and aroma and is called "balm oil"; it has a strong antiseptic effect. Until the middle of the 19th century, Kalufer was one of the main local European and Russian spices, but then it almost completely fell into disuse.

Chervil

(anthriscus cerefolium hoffm.)

Synonyms: chervil, kupyr, snack, zhurnitsa. An annual herbaceous plant of the Apiaceae family.

Distributed in the wild and cultivated in the south of the European part of the USSR (south of Ukraine and Moldova, Crimea, Transcaucasia).

Chervil loves well-fertilized, dry, open to the sun earth. It matures quickly and therefore can be sown several times during the summer (especially since it quickly outgrows). As a spice, only young, tender fresh chervil greens are used. In finely chopped form, it is introduced into vegetable and mushroom salads, Béarnais and Hollandaise sauces, meat, fish and vegetable soups, where chervil serves as the main ingredient in a spicy dressing of 5-6 herbs, into main dishes - to boiled meat and fish, to meat and rice minced meat, omelettes and scrambled eggs. Chervil is placed in the dish just a minute before the readiness or even after the readiness of the dish, as it quickly loses its flavor from heating. Therefore, chervil greens are dried very rarely and in this case they are not stored for a long time.

Kervellispanish

(myrrhis aromatica L. Myrrhis odorata Scop.)

Synonyms: perennial chervil, wild parsley, fragrant buten, spicy buten, frankincense. A perennial herbaceous plant of the Apiaceae family.

Homeland - Southern Europe. Found wild in western regions European part of the USSR. Forms a large shrub that produces abundant leaves in early spring. Later, the stem of the plant must be cut to force the chervil to vegetate again and again.

Spanish chervil has a stronger sweetish flavor and aroma than common chervil.

It is used in the same way as chervil, but mainly for flavoring vegetable dishes - boiled and fried cabbage, grated carrots, rutabaga, turnips, as well as mashed potatoes and casseroles from these vegetables and potatoes.

With chervil as a spice, one should not confuse the root crop chervil - root (turnip) chervil, or chervil swede, which does not have the characteristic taste and aroma of chervil greens.

Kmin

(cuminum cyminum l.)

Synonyms: cumin, spicy cumin, cumin cumin, Roman cumin, Egyptian cumin, Volosh cumin. An annual herbaceous plant of the Apiaceae family.

Homeland - the Mediterranean, Egypt, Arabia, Central Asia. In the south of the Turkmen SSR, it occurs in the wild. Can be cultivated in the Crimea and Transcaucasia. Outwardly, it differs from cumin in larger and, most importantly, lighter yellowish greenish seeds, which have a different flavor than cumin, more delicate in timbre.

Kmin

It is used in the same cases as cumin, especially in bakery, confectionery products, as well as in the manufacture of home-made drinks - mash, kvass, beer.

Kolyuria

(coluria geoides)

Synonyms: gravel colouria, clove. Perennial plant of the rose family.

Homeland - foothills of Altai, Central Asia. Distributed in the foothills of Western and Eastern Siberia, in Tuva.

As a spice, the thick rhizomes of the columium are used. They are cleaned, dried, ground into powder and then consumed in the same way as cloves. Dig up the roots in the third year of the plant's life.

The aroma of colure is weaker and more delicate than that of cloves, sometimes with a pink fragrance. Kolyuria is widely used in the canning industry as a substitute for imported cloves.

Coriander

(coriandrum sativum l.)

Synonyms: kishnets, kolyandra, kolendra, cilantro, kishnishi, kindzi, bedbug. An annual herbaceous plant of the Apiaceae family.

Homeland - Asia Minor, Eastern Mediterranean. It is cultivated in the central black earth regions of the RSFSR, in Ukraine, in the Krasnodar Territory, in the Crimea, Transcaucasia and Central Asia.

As a spice, fresh and dried herbs of the plant, most often called cilantro, and seeds, called coriander, are used. The difference in names reflects the different uses of the herb and coriander seeds. Some even consider them two different spices.

Fresh herbs go to salads, soups, meat (especially fatty) dishes, most often in combination with other spicy herbs - watercress, basil, savory, onion and garlic.

Dry greens, which can be harvested throughout the summer, are rarely used, mainly in winter - in soups and partly in rice and egg dishes.

Coriander seeds are used much more widely - in the bakery, confectionery, fish canning and alcoholic beverage industries, and in home cooking - in milk soups, when stewing meat, pickling fish, making bread, flatbread, pickling cabbage (together with cumin), in the manufacture of kvass and beer. In Transcaucasia, coriander is used to make n o g u l - a kind of lean sugar.

Seeds are usually crushed in a mortar before use.

Coriander is an essential ingredient in most complex spice blends.

CORIANDER

Kresses

Under this name, several types of slightly spicy, unstable in preserving the aroma of herbaceous plants with a smell reminiscent of horseradish and eaten exclusively fresh - in salads, sandwiches and soups, in fatty meat dishes as a side dish - snack are combined. The use of cress is widespread in Western Europe, and in our country in the Baltic States and especially in the Transcaucasus. Russian national cuisine almost does not know the use of cress, with the exception of the ancient cuisine of the Pomors (Arkhangelsk region).

Meanwhile, watercress is an easily accessible spice rich in vitamins and other useful substances that can significantly diversify food throughout the year.

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale R. BR.)

Synonyms: watercress, watercress, bruncress, keycress, water horseradish, water gull. Perennial plant of the cruciferous family.

It grows wild in the Central European zone, along the banks of rivers, streams and clean (flowing) lakes. When breeding in vegetable gardens, it needs shady places and frequent watering.

When cutting raw stems, a sharp pleasant smell is detected and a volatile substance is released, which, like horseradish, “eats eyes”. Dried watercress completely loses these properties.

Bittercress (Cochlearia arctica Sch.; Cochlearia officinalis L.)

Synonyms: spoon grass, spoon grass, spoon horseradish, varuha, sea lettuce, scurvy grass, biennial herbaceous plant of the cruciferous family.

Homeland - Subarctic. Distributed in Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, in the subarctic and partly arctic zone of the USSR, along the shores of the Barents, White, East Siberian seas. Cultivated on a small scale in the Moscow region.

As a spice, only the youngest shoots and young leaves are used. In the first year, the collection is in May - September, in the second year - from April.

They are used in salads, fermented and canned.

Meadowcress (Cardamine pratensis L.)

Synonyms: field mustard, core, smolyanka. Perennial plant of the cruciferous family.

Distributed throughout Europe, especially in Northern. Grows in damp places, along ditches; bred in gardens and orchards. Young leaves and shoots are eaten.

Garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.)

Synonyms: watercress, pepper, horseradish, horseradish, pepper grass, kir-salad, titmati (cargo.). An annual plant of the cruciferous family.

Homeland - Asia Minor. Cultivated in most European countries. We grow it mainly in the Transcaucasus.

Easily bred in winter and summer at home - in boxes and pots. The seeds germinate quickly. To obtain fresh watercress, it must be sown every week, since it is only suitable for consumption at a very young age - a week or two weeks old.

Capuchin cress (Tropaeolum majus L.)

Synonyms: turn, Indian cress, Spanish cress, colored lettuce, nasturtium. An annual plant of the capuchin family.

Homeland - South America.

Cultivated throughout the USSR as an ornamental flower plant- almost never eaten. Meanwhile, all parts of nasturtium are eaten: leaves, buds, flowers and seeds in a green, unripe form. The latter can be marinated with other spices and harvested for future use.

It is used only in salads and as an appetizer side dish for cold and hot meat dishes. Doesn't go to soups.

Lavender

(lavandula vera dc; lavandula angustifolia Mill.)

Synonyms: levanda, lavender, colored grass. Perennial semi-shrub plant of the mint family.

Homeland-Western Mediterranean and North Africa. In the USSR, it is distributed in the Crimea and on Black Sea coast Caucasus.

Cultivated in Moldova, Krasnodar Territory.

As a spice, lavender flowers are used, collected in June, at the very beginning of flowering (until full disclosure) and dried in the shade, in the wind, or in a light spirit from a heated oven. Especially appreciated are the bright blue lavender flowers, which, even after drying, should retain their color unchanged.

Lavender has a strong, pronounced aroma, so it has traditionally been used almost exclusively to flavor soft drinks and vinegar. But lavender can be recommended for use in salads, cold appetizers, vegetable, mushroom and fish soups, and even roasts; at the same time, lavender is washed into powder and sprinkled, like pepper, on the indicated dishes.

LAVENDER

lovage

(levisticum officinale koch.)

Synonyms: lyubistik, lyubistnik, libistok, dawn, piper, fissile grass, love, fence. A perennial herbaceous plant of the umbrella family, up to two meters high. Homeland - Iran. Cultivated in the southern regions of the European part of the USSR. Can grow up to the latitude of Petrozavodsk. In medicine, lovage root is used. In cooking, only young shoots and leaves of lovage are used, both fresh and dried. Lovage is added to all soups, except dairy, sauces, salads, as well as to meat, vegetable and fish main courses.

LOVE

The spicy power of lovage is such that it should not be consumed in very large doses.

Lovage is a favorite spice of Ukrainian and German cuisine. Young stalks of lovage can be boiled in sugar to obtain a kind of candied candy.

Marjoram

(origanum majorana l.; majorana hortensis)

Synonyms: mayran, marjoram, rosemary, garden oregano, sausage grass, vorstirohi (Estonian) Perennial herbaceous non-woody plant of the family Lamiaceae.

Homeland-North Africa. We cultivate and grow in the forests

Baltic States, Western Belarus, on

Ukraine, Moldova, Crimea and the Caucasus. There is wild and garden (more tender) marjoram.

Dried leaves and flower buds are used as a spice. Drying is carried out in the shade, in bunches, after which the buds and leaves are threshed, washed into powder and stored in a hermetically sealed container.

MARJORAM

Marjoram is used mainly in minced sausages (hence one of its names - sausage grass), but it can be introduced into all types of minced meat for the manufacture of minced meat products (cutlets, rolls, shtufat, fillings for casseroles, etc.). Marjoram not only flavors minced meat, but also ennobles the meat itself, making it more tender. In addition, marjoram goes well with winter salads, in potato, tomato, meat, pea and spinach, mushroom soups, is part of the soup "bouquet garni", introduced into tomato and sour cream sauces, meat sauces, cold meat appetizers, meat roasts and egg dishes.

Despite its "sausage" reputation, garden marjoram, with its very delicate aroma, goes well with fruit juices.

Marjoram is a favorite spice in Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Latvian and Estonian cuisines.

Melissa

(melissa officinalis l.)

Synonyms: lemon mint, honeydew, mother liquor, swarm grass, papa grass, bee herbaceous perennial plant of the labiaceae family.

Homeland - Southern Europe, North Africa. Cultivated in all European countries. In the wild, it is found in the USSR in the south of Ukraine, in the Crimea, in the Caucasus, in the Krasnodar Territory, and Central Asia. In vegetable gardens it grows well in the middle lane, giving two or three growing seasons per summer (with an early break). The whole plant emits a pleasant lemon scent before flowering. After flowering, the smell becomes heavy. Melissa should be collected only before flowering, in June.

Lemon balm leaves are used as a spice both fresh and dry. When fresh, lemon balm goes well in all summer salads, borscht, vegetable soups, and they lay it like spicy greens 1-2 minutes before serving. In dry form, it is used in the same dishes in winter, and also added to tea, compotes, homemade kvass, beer, home brew, vinegar is perfumed. Dry lemon balm can be put in pickles, for example, in cucumbers, tomatoes (leaves), and powder can be sprinkled with meat, fish dishes and game (3 minutes before readiness).

Melissa Turkish, or Moldavian snakehead

(dracocephalum moldavica l.)

Annual herbaceous plant of the labiate family Synonyms: bruise, dragonhead.

Homeland - Southern Siberia and China. Widely distributed in the south and southwest of the European part of the USSR. Introduced into culture in Ukraine, Moldova, the Caucasus, Altai and the extreme south of Eastern Siberia. In the central zone of the USSR, especially in the Kuibyshev region, it is used as a honey plant.

In cooking, leaves and buds are used fresh and dry before flowering in the same dishes as lemon balm.

MELISSA

Juniper

(juniperus communis l.)

Synonyms: backout, common juniper, juniper, yalovets, genevrier. Evergreen coniferous shrub of the cypress family.

Homeland - Europe, Siberia, with the exception of the Far North. It is distributed mainly in the northern and middle lane, in forests.

The spice is the fruits, or rather the juniper seedlings, which are incorrectly called “berries” or “cone-berries” according to their appearance and position on the bush. Seed fruit ripen in the second year, in autumn. The best time collection - the end of September, October, when the berries are fully ripe. They are fleshy, soft, pea-sized balls of bluish-black color, covered with a characteristic silver-gray coating. Inside the balls - in the pulp olive color- three seeds.

To turn into a spice, after harvesting, the fruits are dried under sheds or in a well-ventilated room, turning over from time to time. After drying, the berries should not look shriveled: they should be full, shiny, black-brown in color. When stored in an airtight glass vessel they spread a delicate coniferous aroma with a sharp tinge.

Juniper fruits are used as a spice in Western European (English, French, German), Northern European (Swedish, Finnish) and partly in Russian cuisine. In french cuisine juniper is added to dishes from meat or poultry when they want to give them the flavor of game. In Russian cuisine, juniper berries are put in sauerkraut. Usually, juniper berries are used in the preparation of forest game - bear meat, wild boar meat (boar), various types of venison, hare, as well as upland feathered game - grouse, capercaillie, hazel grouse, partridge, woodcock. Juniper spice either discourages an unpleasant taste (in venison, hare), or fixes a specific aroma (in bear meat), or enhances a purely “forest” flavor (in birds). In this case, juniper is used in combination with mint, garlic, and sometimes with wormwood (for wild boar meat). To this end, juniper berries are crushed or crushed, mint and other spices are added to them, placed in linen or gauze bags and brewed with boiling water. The cooled broth, along with onions (hot), garlic and with the addition of red wine, as well as marjoram, is used as a marinade, in which game or meat is soaked for 2-3 or even 5 hours if they want to give it a game flavor.

Juniper fruits should not be consumed in large quantities, since at a certain concentration they are poisonous, especially when poorly dried. You should take no more than 6-8 pieces of fruit per 1 kilogram of meat or 4-5 pieces "per bird" - hazel grouse or partridge. This dose is actually put twice - the first time in the marinade, the second - directly in the roast before frying or stewing.

Mint

(mentha)

An extensive genus of perennial herbaceous plants of the labiaceae family, which has several species used as a spice. As a spice, the leaves and the upper half of the plant with buds are used, which is best harvested on the eve of flowering. Mint is distributed almost throughout the entire territory of the USSR.

Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.)

Synonyms: English mint, cold mint, cold mint.

Peppermint - cultivated plant, specially bred to obtain mainly essential mint oil and for the production of menthol. In cooking, peppermint is used as a spice only in the alcoholic beverage and confectionery industries, where they usually use not mint itself, but mint oil or mint essence.

At home, peppermint should be used very carefully in confectionery products, because if overheated or overdose, it can ruin the whole thing, giving the product a bitter taste. It is introduced into cookies, gingerbread, buns, compotes, kissels, fruit drinks, tinctures, kvass.

Curly mint (Mentha crispa)

Synonyms: German mint, curly mint, meadow mint. It is also a cultivated variety of mint, closely related to wild mint species such as field mint (Mentha arvensis), wild mint (Mentha silvestris), water mint (Mentha aquatica) - ombalo (cargo.) and green mint (Mentha viridis). Common to all the listed types of mint is their lack of sharpness of taste and coldness, characteristic of peppermint. Therefore, these types of mint can be used as spices much more widely than peppermint. At the same time, it is preferable to use southern and mountain varieties of mint, which are distinguished by a special subtlety of aroma and a soft taste timbre. When fresh, young mint grass (before flowering) goes like spicy greens to salads, to meat, to bean and pea hot dishes, to lactic acid soups (dovga). In dry form (in powder), mint can be added to meat soups, roast beef and lamb, veal, marinades for meat and wild game, pea, lentil, bean soups and other hot dishes (lobio, side dishes), as well as carrot and partly mashed potatoes and in risotto (rice porridge in meat broth). Mint also goes into compotes, kvass, fruit drinks, juices, preserves and jams (for these purposes, it is dried in moderate sun in the morning).

Mint is spicy, or elsholtzia. (Elsholtzia patrinii, Elsholtzia cristata)

Synonyms: comb shandra, spicy hyssop.

An annual herbaceous plant of the labiaceae family, which has more than 20 species. It does not belong to the mint genus at all, but in folk cooking it is called “spicy mint” and is similar to mint in application.

Homeland - Asia. On the territory of the USSR, it is widespread and most used in the Baltic republics and the western regions of Belarus.

Dried buds and flowers collected at the very beginning of flowering are used as a spice. The smell is subtle, pleasant, reminiscent of lemon balm, but more spicy.

Spicy mint is added mainly to minced meat, offal pates, homemade sausages, used for stewing lumpy meat, as well as for flavoring meat salads, appetizers, sandwiches and soups. Doses when added to minced meat can be quite significant, since Elsgoltia almost does not give any bitterness when heated. Like marjoram, spicy mint has an ennobling effect on the texture of meat.

Apple mint (Mentha rotundifolia)

Synonyms: round mint, Egyptian mint, golden mint, wild balsam, confectionery mint.

Homeland - Egypt, Asia Minor. Cultivated in Southern and Central Europe, in the USSR - in Transcaucasia.

Apple mint has an extremely delicate aroma and taste, not accompanied by cooling. It does not give bitterness at all when heated and increased in quantity, which is radically different from most other types of mint. This allows you to use apple mint in sweet dishes - compotes, kissels, jelly, jams, apple fillings for pies, various confectionery.

APPLE MINT

Sagebrush

(artemisia)

Among the many hundreds of species of wormwood - perennial plants of the Compositae family - there are only a few used as spicy herbs. In such species, as a rule, the bitterness characteristic of all wormwood plants is weakened and, conversely, the aromatic principle is enhanced. This serves as the main hallmark spicy wormwood plants. Most of them are found in the south of the USSR, in the subalpine zone of the Caucasus, Tien Shan, Pamir. Three or four species are distributed in the middle and southern strip of the European part of the USSR.

Everyone knows that the ancient Greeks called ambrosia the food of the gods, but few people know that by this they meant wormwood.

Wormwood (Artemisia vulgaris L.).

Synonyms: Chernobyl, Chernobyl, simple wormwood.

Distributed everywhere from Karelia to the Crimea and the Caucasus, as well as in Siberia and the Far East. Grows in uncultivated areas as a weed.

A distinctive feature is the purple stem, the leaves below are whitish-silvery. Chernobyl differs from bitter wormwood (Artemisia absintum L.) in much less bitterness and a high degree of aromaticity of young leaves.

In cooking, only young leaves of the tops of wormwood are used, collected before flowering, at the stage of budding of the plant (together with buds) and dried in the shade. Wormwood is used in dry form when cooking meat (directly adding to it in the form of a powder at the tip of a knife 1-2 minutes before cooking) or for making a marinade in which meat is kept before frying or stewing (dry wormwood leaves are placed in a gauze bag, so that they do not stick to the meat, and put in the marinade).

Roman wormwood (Artemisia pontica L.)

Synonyms: Pontic wormwood, Alexandrian wormwood, Black Sea wormwood, Pontic absinth, white neforosch, narrow-leaved wormwood, small wormwood.

WORMWOOD ROMAN

This type of wormwood is common throughout southern Russia and the Crimea. It is even more fragrant and less bitter than ordinary wormwood. They use it in the same way as Chernobyl, in meat dishes.

Panicled wormwood (Artemisia procera Willd)

Synonyms: kurovnik, towpath, bodrennik, chiliga.

Distributed in the middle zone of the RSFSR (Tambov, Kuibyshev, Saratov regions, Tatar ASSR). It has a peculiar aromatic smell. It is used as ordinary wormwood, in the same doses.

Wormwood lemon (Artemisia abrotanum L.)

Synonym: god tree.

Homeland - Eastern Mediterranean, Asia Minor. It grows in the south, near the water in central Russia.

The softest and most fragrant type of wormwood. Young shoots can be used in small doses even fresh. Use it in exactly the same way as ordinary wormwood, but with a lesser degree of caution. When dried, it completely loses its bitterness. A pleasant burning sensation, characteristic of all real spices, appears.

Powdered lemon wormwood can be added to grilled meats up to 3 minutes before cooking.

With the addition of a small amount of juniper berries, it is sometimes put into homemade breads, which gives them an original "forest" flavor. So, for example, "hunting" bread is baked in the north of Russia and in some northern European countries. Lemon wormwood can also be used to flavor vinegar and added as a powder to meat and game sauces, but keep in mind that the temperature of the sauce must be below 40°C.

Wormwood alpine (Artemisia Mutellina)

Distributed in the subalpine and alpine zone of the Caucasus. Characteristic features - a grayish-gray color, a slight bitterness in taste, a very faint smell when fresh, intensifying when dried, but remaining tender; dries quickly, does not change color when dried, bitterness intensifies when dried.

It is used, like ordinary wormwood, in the same doses.

Ruta

(ruta graveolens l.)

Semi-shrub of the rue family with bluish-green foliage.

Homeland - Southern Europe, the Mediterranean. In the USSR, it is distributed in the Crimea and on the Black Sea coast of Transcaucasia in cultivated and partly in the wild.

As a spice, rue leaves are used, the so-called "grass", usually collected before the flowering of the plant - until June.

A growing rue bush emits a strong, unpleasant odor, changing after drying to a scent slightly reminiscent of a rose.

Young leaves of rue (from the very shoots) tops can be eaten fresh in salads.

But mostly dried rue leaves and its seeds are used as a spice, which are added in very small doses to meat and vegetable dishes.

RUTA

Thyme

(thymus vulgaris)

Synonyms: common thyme, fragrant thyme, incense, incense, incense.

Upright, branched perennial subshrub of the labiaceae family up to 50 centimeters high.

Homeland - the Mediterranean. It is not found in the wild in our country. Cultivated in Moldova, the southern regions of Ukraine and the Krasnodar Territory.

As a spice, mainly dried thyme "grass" is used, that is, the upper half or third of the stem with leaves, buds or flowers. Thyme is harvested in June - July, at the very beginning of flowering.

Fresh and dry thyme is used for salting cucumbers and tomatoes along with dill, in potato and tomato salads, soups, borscht, cabbage soup. Dry thyme (in powder) goes with stews, especially lamb, steaks, rice and pasta, egg and chicken dishes. It is introduced into the composition of the so-called light sauces.

THYME

Caraway

(carum carvi l.)

Synonyms: cumin, common cumin. A biennial herbaceous plant of the Apiaceae family.

Homeland - Northern and Central Europe. Distributed throughout the European part of the USSR, and in Siberia - to Baikal. Cultivated in the central black earth and southern regions. However, more fragrant cumin is given by the Baltic States and Western Belarus, where cumin grows wild.

As a spice, mainly cumin seeds are used, which appear in the second year of the plant's life. A fruiting plant is cut long before the seeds fall out (in July-August), dried in bunches in a ventilated room, and then threshed. Young leaves, shoots and roots of cumin can be eaten fresh in salads. The roots, in addition, can be pickled and boiled with honey and sugar.

Cumin seeds are added to soups (cabbage, onion, potato), sauces, sauerkraut, when pickling tomatoes and cucumbers, as well as bread, donuts, buns, pancakes, cheeses and cottage cheese, and finally, beer and kvass; with cumin it is good to boil potatoes in their skins.

Cumin goes best in dishes containing cabbage or cottage cheese (brynza, cheese) as the main component. Cumin is introduced into hot dishes during the cooking process 10-12 minutes before readiness.

Close to cumin are such spices as azhgon and cumin (see pp. 104, 118), in which the main part used is also seeds, but their aroma and therefore the scope of use are somewhat different.

Dill

(anethum graveolens l.)

Synonyms: koper, tsap, crop (ukr.), shivit (Uzbek.), sewing (Azerbaijan), summit (arm.), Kama (cargo.), till (Estonian).

Homeland - Southern Europe, Egypt, Asia Minor, In Western and Northern Europe known since the XVI century. In the USSR, it is widely distributed as a cultivated garden plant. Easily cultivated at home in boxes, pots throughout the year.

Dill is one of the most common spices in Russia. However, its traditional use - in salads, soups, meat main courses, as well as in pickling cucumbers and tomatoes - is limited to summer time. We are used to using dill only fresh. Harvesting dill for the winter, with the exception of the salt mixture used in some places and only sometimes, is almost not carried out. It should be noted that the salt mixture eliminates many of the valuable qualities of dill and does not provide true preservation. Meanwhile, dill can be successfully dried and kept dry throughout the year. With proper drying, dill does not lose its color or its properties.

Dry and fresh dill can be used in increased doses when stewing and frying fish, especially herring (the so-called herring in Finnish). To do this, thickly sprinkle the fish with dill mixed with black pepper, parsley and onions so that it is covered with dill and lies on a bed of greens. In this way, you can fry any sea fish - it becomes much more tender.

In winter, along with dried dill, you can also use dill seeds, which are very well preserved. They can be introduced when baking cakes and donuts, in soups, marinades, added to the ear, to boiled and stewed fish.

In addition to dill itself, modern cuisine also uses dill oil (in the smallest doses) and dill essence, which is a 20% alcohol solution of dill oil. These concentrated spices must be used very carefully so as not to spoil the dish. More often they are used not in home cooking, but in public catering.

In the home kitchen, you can prepare dill infusion for kneading noodle dough on it. It gives a very pleasant aroma to homemade noodles.

It is done easily. Finely chopped dill is placed in a shallow pan, poured with a small amount of water and insisted for 2 hours. After that, the dill is well squeezed out and the noodles are kneaded on the resulting infusion. As a result, noodles and soup are very fragrant, and this aroma is very thin and delicate.

Fenugreek, or fenugreek

(trigonella foenum graecum l.)

Synonyms: fenum-greek, fenigrekova grass, Greek hay, Greek goat shamrock, Greek opium, cocked hat, camel grass, ucho suneli (cargo.). An annual herbaceous plant of the legume family.

Homeland - Eastern Mediterranean, Asia Minor. In the USSR it is cultivated in South Transcaucasia.

As a spice, dry seeds of irregular shape, ribbed, almost cubic are used. It is very difficult to grind these seeds without a machine, so fenugreek is usually sold only in powder form.

Fenugreek is added to the dough to add flavor to the bread, it is included as an obligatory component in all complex mixtures of spices - curry (see p. 150), in which it is 15-20%.

FENUGREK

Savory

(satureja hortensis l.)

Synonyms: garden savory, summer savory, cheber, chobr, sheber. An annual herbaceous plant of the mint family.

Homeland - the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, Asia Minor. It grows wild in all countries of Southern Europe, on the territory of the USSR - in the Crimea, the Caucasus (Dagestan) and Transcaucasia. It can be cultivated throughout the USSR, including in winter - in pots and boxes.

As a spice, the entire aerial part is used, collected before flowering or at its very beginning.

After drying, the aroma of savory is further enhanced, which is why savory is used in cooking mainly in a dry form.

Fresh savory greens are used in salads, soups, when pickling cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peppers, when pickling and pickling mushrooms.

Dry savory is introduced into soups (meat, vegetable, mushroom, and especially chicken, to which it gives exceptional piquancy). In general, tender meat is flavored with savory - veal, chicken, turkey, or it is added to sauces served with these dishes. In addition, savory goes well with all bean and egg dishes and boiled cabbage of all kinds (cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi).

savorywinter

(satureja montana L)

Synonyms: perennial savory, alpine savory, mountain savory. Perennial shrub 45 centimeters high, found wild in the European Alps.

We cultivate in Transcarpathia. The quality is inferior to the summer savory. Used in the same way as summer savory. In French cuisine, winter savory, combined with parsley and onion (onion juice), is a spicy addition to "burgundy omelettes".

Alpine perennial savory should not be confused with the mountain variety of summer savory found in Transcaucasia in the subalpine zone, which has a strong, pleasant aroma. It bears the local name cha chet or kya kёt.

Thyme

(thymus serpyllum l.)

Synonyms: creeping thyme, bogorodskaya grass, lemon flavor, pine forest pepper, muhopal, macerzhanka, greed.

Perennial creeping herbaceous plant of the mint family.

Thyme is distributed throughout Europe and the USSR, found mainly in dry, sandy, elevated places. It has several types, differing in strength and various shades of aroma.

In the middle lane, the most common type of thyme is thyme.

Marshall, in Ukraine, and in the Lower Volga region, a short fluffy variation of adoratissimus, in the south (in the Crimea, in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia) - variations of nummularius and hirsutus, which are distinguished by a more shaggy edge of leaves and more strong aroma.

In cooking, they mainly use dried thyme herb (tops with buds). In the form of a powder, it goes in small doses to vegetable and meat soups, in large doses - to all kinds of fish dishes and minced fish. When frying fish, thyme is mixed in large quantities with breading (and best of all with flour in a ratio of 1: 2). In addition, cheese is sprinkled with thyme, and it is also used in the preparation of homemade cheeses.

THYME

Nigella

(nigella sativa L.)

Synonyms: Chernukha, black cumin, matzok, nigella, Roman coriander. An annual herbaceous plant of the buttercup family,

Homeland - Western Mediterranean. In the USSR, it is distributed and cultivated in Lithuania, in the south and west of Ukraine, in Moldova, the Crimea and Transcaucasia. In the gardens of the middle lane it is found as an ornamental flower plant.

As a spice, nigella seeds are used. They are collected in August - September along with the stems and then dried and threshed.

Nigella is used in sauerkraut and pickling cucumbers) watermelons, in the confectionery industry, in baking rich bread, pretzels, cookies (these products are sprinkled with nigella seeds like cinnamon before planting in the oven). Chernushka can be used to flavor sweet dishes: puddings, mousses, kissels, compotes, jellies. In this case, the so-called Turkish, or Damascene nigella (Nigella Damascena L.), which has the aroma of strawberries, is most often used.

Sage

(salvia officinalis l.)

Synonyms: shavliy, shalvia. Perennial subshrub of the Lamiaceae family with silvery-greenish foliage, often covered with a felt coating.

It has dozens of varieties.

Homeland - the Mediterranean. In the USSR, it is cultivated in Moldova, the Krasnodar Territory, and Ukraine. In the wild, it covers large areas in the North Caucasus, especially in Kabardino-Balkaria.

As a spice, use the leaves of the top of the plant, collected together with the buds on the eve of flowering - in May - June. Sage is used in cooking only in dry form in powder. Before drying, sage leaves are washed in cold water from dust and insects that cling tenaciously to the whole plant due to its "shaggyness".

Sage powder goes partly as a substitute for rosemary in soups, meat, game, poultry and cheeses, especially processed ones, as well as salads containing mainly eggs and cold meats. However, sage is not suitable in all cases as a substitute for rosemary.

As a completely independent spice, sage is put in cabbage, egg-rice and meat pies to give them a special flavor and aroma.

Sage powder in small doses is good to mix with grated cheeses - this gives them a piquancy. Sage is sprinkled immediately before serving on chicken broths, egg dishes (omelettes, scrambled eggs, sage), boiled fatty fish, stewed beef, it is put in minced meat for meatballs, meatballs, rolls.

SAGES

Tarragon

(artemisia dracunculus l.)

Synonyms: dragoon grass, stragon, tarragon. Perennial plant of the Asteraceae family. It belongs to the genus of wormwood, but is almost completely devoid of its bitterness and has a completely different aromatic and flavor range, which leads to a different use compared to all other wormwood. Therefore, we consider tarragon as a spice separately from wormwood.

Homeland - Eastern Siberia, Mongolia. In the wild, it is found in the southeastern regions of the RSFSR, in the North Caucasus, in the Transcaucasus, in the Urals and in Siberia. Cultivated in Transcaucasia, partly in Ukraine and in the middle lane.

Propagated vegetatively, which ensures the preservation of a strong aroma in the plant. When propagated by seeds, the aroma weakens, and in the fourth or fifth generation it even disappears completely and a slight bitterness often appears instead.

Tarragon is harvested twice a year: in May - June and August - September. Mostly young grass is used both fresh and dried. When drying, the leaves are separated from the stems and dried separately.

The stems are used in various pickles, when pickling cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, and also for flavoring vinegar (along with leaves).

Fresh and dry leaves are used in salads (green vegetable, fish, meat, potato), meat and fish soups, borscht and chicken broths, as well as sauces for fish and crustaceans.

Tarragon harmonizes well with boiled and especially stewed fish. Fresh tarragon is laid immediately before serving, in dry form - 1-2 minutes before readiness.

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Our grandmothers, growing strawberries, or strawberries, as we used to call them, were not particularly worried about mulching. But today this agricultural practice has become fundamental in achieving high quality berries and reducing crop losses. Some might say it's troublesome. But practice shows that labor costs in this case pay off handsomely. In this article, we invite you to get acquainted with the nine the best materials for mulching garden strawberries.

Mint was used by the Egyptians as far back as 1.5 thousand years BC. It has a strong aroma due to the high content of various essential oils with high volatility. Today, mint is used in medicine, perfumery, cosmetology, winemaking, cooking, ornamental gardening, and the confectionery industry. In this article, we will consider the most interesting varieties of mint, and also talk about the features of growing this plant in open ground.

Looking at the variety of varieties of tomatoes, it is difficult not to get confused - the choice is very wide today. Even experienced gardeners he is annoying sometimes! However, it is not so difficult to understand the basics of selecting varieties “for yourself”. The main thing is to understand the peculiarities of culture and start experimenting. One of the easiest tomato groups to grow are varieties and hybrids with limited growth. They have always been appreciated by those gardeners who do not have much time and energy to care for the beds.

Once very popular under the name of room nettle, and then forgotten by everyone, coleuses today are one of the brightest garden and indoor plants. They are not in vain considered stars of the first magnitude for those who are looking primarily for non-standard colors. Easy to grow, but not so undemanding as to suit everyone, coleus require constant supervision. But if you take care of them, bushes of velvety unique leaves will easily outshine any competitor.

Salmon backbone baked in Provence herbs is a “supplier” of delicious pieces of fish pulp for a light salad with fresh wild garlic leaves. Mushrooms are lightly fried in olive oil, and then poured over apple cider vinegar. Such mushrooms are tastier than ordinary pickled ones, and they are better suited for baked fish. Ramson and fresh dill coexist perfectly in one salad, emphasizing the flavor of each other. Garlic sharpness of wild garlic will saturate both the flesh of salmon and pieces of mushrooms.

Conifer tree or a shrub on the site is always great, and a lot of conifers is even better. Emerald needles of various shades decorate the garden at any time of the year, and phytoncides and essential oils secreted by plants not only flavor, but also make the air cleaner. As a rule, most zoned adult conifers are considered to be very unpretentious trees and shrubs. But young seedlings are much more capricious and require competent care and attention.

Sakura is most often associated with Japan and its culture. Picnics under the shade of flowering trees have long become an essential attribute of the meeting of spring in the Land of the Rising Sun. The financial and academic year here begins on April 1, when magnificent cherry blossoms bloom. Therefore, many significant moments in the life of the Japanese pass under the sign of their flowering. But sakura also grows well in cooler regions - certain types can be successfully grown even in Siberia.

It is very interesting for me to analyze how people's tastes and preferences for certain foods have changed over the centuries. What was once considered tasty and traded lost its value over time and, conversely, new fruit crops conquered their markets. Quince has been cultivated for more than 4 thousand years! And even in the 1st century BC. e. about 6 varieties of quince were known and even then the methods of its reproduction and cultivation were described.

Make your family happy and make themed Easter egg-shaped cottage cheese cookies! Your children will be happy to take part in the process - they will sift the flour, combine all the necessary ingredients, knead the dough and cut out intricate figures. Then they will watch with admiration how the pieces of dough turn into real Easter eggs, and then with the same enthusiasm they will eat them with milk or tea. How to make such original cookies for Easter, read our step-by-step recipe!

There are not so many decorative and deciduous favorites among tuberous crops. And the caladium is a true star among the variegated inhabitants of the interiors. Not everyone can decide to start a Caladium. This plant is demanding, and first of all - to care. But still, the rumors about the unusual capriciousness of the Caladium never justify. Attention and care allow you to avoid any difficulties when growing caladiums. And a plant can almost always forgive small mistakes.

We have prepared a hearty, incredibly appetizing and simply elementary dish for you today. This gravy is one hundred percent universal, as it will suit every side dish: vegetables, pasta, and anything. Gravy with chicken and mushrooms will save you in moments when there is no time or you don’t want to think too much about what to cook. Grab your favorite side dish (you can make this ahead of time to keep it hot), add gravy and dinner is ready! A real lifesaver.

Among the many different varieties of these most popular vegetables, we will talk about three that are distinguished by excellent taste and relatively unpretentious growing conditions. Characteristics of eggplant varieties "Diamond", "Black Handsome" and "Valentina". All eggplants have a medium density pulp. In "Almaz" it is greenish, and in the other two it is yellowish-white. They are united by good germination and excellent yield, but in different time. Everyone's skin color and shape is different.

Agriculture refers to such types of human activity, the successful outcome of which is not always directly proportional to the efforts made. Unfortunately, nature does not necessarily act as our ally in growing plants, and often, on the contrary, throws up new challenges. Increased reproduction of pests, abnormal heat, late return frosts, hurricane wind, drought... And one of the springs brought us another surprise - a flood.

With the advent of the summer season, the question arises of growing strong and healthy seedlings of our favorite vegetables: cabbage, tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplant and many other crops. Along with this, the question arises - how to grow decent seedlings and in the future get from it healthy plants and decent harvest? For example, I have been growing seedlings for more than one season and protecting my garden from diseases with the help of biological preparations Alirin-B, Gamair, Gliocladin, Trichocin.

Let me confess my love today. In love with... lavender. One of the best unpretentious, evergreen and flowering shrubs which can be successfully grown in your garden. And if someone thinks that lavender is a Mediterranean or, at least, southern inhabitant, then you are mistaken. Lavender grows well and in more northern regions, even in the suburbs. But in order to grow it, you need to know some rules and features. They will be discussed in this article.