• Last updated 5/8/10 by Nicko

Story and photos by Becky Billingsley     Anyone whose cooking skills goes beyond cutting a slit in a plastic wrapper and nuking a box for 90 seconds knows how to use fresh parsley, rosemary, basil and cilantro. Those who want to explore other flavors love seeking out new herbs.   Pete Gerace is a partner with Kris Reynolds at Inlet Culinary Garden in Murrells Inlet, S.C. Their business is a wonderland of greenery with leaves of various sizes, shapes and scents. They're all edible, and Gerace explained how some of the lesser-known varieties are flavor power... read more

• Last updated 3/8/10 by Nicko

Written By Chef Peter Martin Sweet Heat It all starts with a slight tingling in the mouth that quickly turns into a light burning sensation.  Your nose starts to run and perspiration beads on your forehead as your eyes turn blurry with tears.  By now your mouth has become a raging river of molten lava, or so it seems.  You have just swallowed a powerful alkaloid that has caused your brain to release neurotransmitters telling your body you are in big trouble.  So who is this insidious poisoner so intent on seeing you suffer?  You are, and mostly likely you will attempt... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by mvogel

Have you ever patronized a restaurant that doesn't have salt and pepper on the table?  The assumption is that the food is already properly seasoned, (seasoning primarily refers to salt), and applying more is not only unnecessary, but may be offensive to the chef.  This implies that his or her amount of seasoning is eternally and universally accurate.  I don't mean to offend anyone but I find such a perspective incredibly presumptuous.  Why?  Because this position predicates that everybody's palate is identical.  And that my friends is simply ludicrous.  Biology, age,... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by ddewitt

Generally speaking, chipotle in English refers to any smoked chile pepper. The Spanish word chipotle is a contraction of chilpotle in the Náhuatl language of the Aztecs, where chil referred to the hot pepper and potle was derived from poctli, meaning smoked. The word was apparently reversed from Náhuatl, where it originally was spelled pochilli. Other early spellings in Mexico are tzilpoctil, tzonchilli, and texochilli. The most commonly smoked chiles are jalapeños, named for the city of Jalapa in the state of Veracruz. They are also known in Mexico as cuaresmeños, or... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by mvogel

Vampire RepellantGarlic.  What would we do without it?  Garlic's reputation precedes itself.  And a ponderous reputation it is.  Garlic has been alleged to perform everything from curing countless illnesses to warding off evil spirits and vampires.  The Egyptians fed garlic to the slaves who built the pyramids believing it increased their physical strength.  Man has harvested garlic for at least 5,000 years.  Horticulturists argue about its exact origins but a popular theory places its genesis in, of all places, Siberia.  Modern medicinal claims purport that garlic... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by ChefTalk.com

Tarragon is an herb which had many aliases in days of old. Just to name a few:  Mugwort (English) Wormwood (one of the "bitter herbs" of the Bible) Wormseed (American) Esdragon (French) Dracunculus (Latin, means a little dragon) Dragon Mugwort (English) Herbe au Dragon (French) Dragoncello (Italian) Estragon (German) Drakonteion (Greek) Tarkhun (Arabic, closest to Tarragon)   Like many herbs, tarragon has an interesting history, or histories, due to the fact that tarragon seems to have been put to use in many different cultures.  The Germans used the root... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by dbirkle

Purple-flowered saffron crocus, Crocus sativus, a bulbous perennial of the iris family (Iridaceae) treasured for its golden-coloured, pungent stigmas, which are dried and used to flavour and colour foods and as a dye. Saffron is named among the sweet-smelling herbs in Song of Solomon 4:14. It has a strong, exotic aroma and a bitter taste. It is used to colour and flavour many Mediterranean and Oriental dishes, particularly rice and fish, and English, Scandinavian, and Balkan breads. It is an important ingredient in bouillabaisse. A golden-coloured, water-soluble fabric... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by crenfrow

Salt was an essential item on every medieval table. It was served not in shakers, as we do, but rather in a communal mound upon a bread trencher, or else in a communal saltcellar. Such saltcellars were often ornate, intricate, and fashioned of precious metals. A particularly popular style was the nef, in the shape of a ship, replete with tiny rigging, cannon, and sailors. Dipping food directly into the cellar was frowned upon. One would take a small portion and place it upon a clean trencher. Good quality salt was made from brine springs by evaporation, or from peat... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by JackBlack

Parsley, More Than a GarnishMany already know this but some do not, and for those who have been wrongly misinformed throughout life let it be said that parsley is a culinary herb that is full of flavor as well as color and is not merely a garnish. Parsley is without a doubt the most popular and widely used culinary herb in the world. It grows in most climates and is readily available throughout the year. It's unfortunate, though, that parsley is also one of the least appreciated herbs in America, its subtle flavor is often overlooked and not even considered it's usually... read more

• Last updated 2/16/10 by dbirkle

Oregano Also called ORIGANUM, flavourful dried leaves and flowering tops of any of various perennial herbs of the mint family (Lamiaceae, or Labiatae), particularly Origanum vulgare, called wild marjoram in northern and central Europe, widely used to season many foods. The name is derived from the Greek oros, "mountain," and ganos, "joy." Oregano has long been an essential ingredient of Mediterranean cooking. Pliny the Elder thought it a remedy for bad digestion. The Greeks used it as a poultice for wounds, and Pliny recommended it for scorpion and spider bites. The... read more