After planning an amazing trip to the desert and failing tragically, (see desktop image) I decided to comfort myself with planting a herb garden just outside our door.
All went well, bought earth and pots and found most of the herbs I wanted - Mint, Flat-leaf Parsley, Chives, Oregano (the fat velvety kind) and Zatar.
Zatar is a spice mix and is hugely popular here, made from zatar, olive oil and sesame seeds.
Now the complicated part of this mix is the main ingredient, zatar, which no one knows the English name for. I have been told by various experts in the field (and all emphasize that his/her knowledge is the truth) that zatar is one of the following: Oregano, Salvia, Marjoram, Hyssop or "wintersweet"?!
After a lot of hard work comparing pictures on google, I can now tell you the answer: Zatar is Sweet Marjoram or maybe it is Wild Marjoram, anyway it is of the Marjoram family and a lovely plant of which ever it is, is growing in my garden now.
I still have to add two very essential spices, Basil and Thyme before my garden is complete.
Before I show you my beautiful garden as it looked this morning, I will tell you how I use these spices:
Mint - great for a lot of different things: mint tea, mint sauce for hot indian dishes like samosas, lemonade and my favorite current drink - strawberry smoothies.
Flat-leafed parsley - I like it much more than the curly parsley. Great for all sallads (especially tabouleh) when fresh, in omelets, and in all soups when dried.
Chives - (sv. gräslök). Great in yogurt based sauces, as sprinkle on sandwiches and in home made cream cheese.
Oregano - of course a major part of all Italian dishes but also in omelets. The dried spice taste a lot more than when it is fresh, so with eggs I prefer to use fresh oregano.
Marjoram - amazing taste explosion in your mouth when dried and sprinkled over feta cheese with olive oil; and with eggs both fresh and dried.
This is what my beautiful herb garden looked like this morning:
Yes! It is snow and hailstone!
My beautiful herb garden has temporarily moved
to my bathtub for now.
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5 comments:
You should make an herbes de Provence mix out of them.
I forgot to tell my father to bring some from France last time he was here this fall, can't find it anywhere here in Sthlm... even though it is most common spice next after salt and pepper there. Well, almost, depending on people. To me at last it is, and I'm almost out of it.
"Ratatouille au Zatar de Provence à la Caroline"... mmmmmm.....
Fint!! Blir riktigt inspirerad att ha en liten egen kryddsamling på balkongen. Kan du inte komma hem och hjälpa mig!!?!
Stor kram!!
Ok Emm, so give me a nice Herbes de Provence recipe if you know it. Lavender and Rosemary grow all over the hills here so that is no problem.
Maggan, du hade ju en fin liten kryddsamling förra året... Jag skulle gärna hjälpa dig, det är så kul att plantera, men jag har inte råd att flyga fram o tillbaka så mkt, Kommer i sommar och då kan jag hjälpa dig vattna din fina kryddsamling. Ok? Kram.
My mouth was watering when I was reading this :) Must be hungry :) Looks lovely. Almost as lovely as you. We miss you. Even though you managed to miss both Noam's 1st birthday and Pebb' 40th birthday :) Kisses!
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