Horseradish/ Peberrod

Armoracia rusticana


Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana, syn. Cochlearia armoracia) is a perennial plant of the family Brassicaceae (which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli and cabbage). It is a root vegetable used as a spice and prepared as a condiment.


The plant is probably native to southeastern Europe and western Asia. It grows up to 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) tall, and is cultivated primarily for its large, white, tapered root.

The intact horseradish root has hardly any aroma. When cut or grated enzymes from the now-broken plant cells break down sinigrin to produce  mustard oil, which irritates the sinuses and eyes. Grated mash should be used immediately or preserved in vinegar for best flavor. Once exposed to air or heat it will begin to lose its pungency, darken in color, and become unpleasantly bitter tasting over time.

After the first frost in autumn kills the leaves, the root is dug and divided. The main root is harvested and one or more large offshoots of the main root are replanted to produce next year's crop. Horseradish left undisturbed in the garden spreads via underground shoots and can become invasive. Older roots left in the ground become woody, after which they are no longer culinarily useful, although older plants can be dug and re-divided to start new plants. The early season leaves can be distinctively different, asymmetric spiky, before the mature typical flat broad leaves start to be developed.

History
Horseradish has been cultivated since Antiquity. According to Greek mythology, the Delphic oracle told Apollo that the horseradish was worth its weight in gold. Cato discusses the plant in his treatises on agriculture, and a mural in Pompei shows the plant. Horseradish is probably the plant mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his natural history under the name of Amoracia, and recommended by him for its medicinal qualities, and possibly the wild radish or raphanos agrios of the Greeks. The early Renaissance herbalists Pietro Andrea Mattioli and John Gerard showed it under raphanus. Its modern lonnean genus Armoracia was first applied to it by Heinrich Bernhard Ruppius in his flora Jenensis 1745, but Linneaeus himself called it Coclearia armoracia.


Medicine
Both root and leaves were used as a medicine during the Middle Ages both in fol medicine and in traditional medicine , fx as a means against fever. As a means against gouts a poultice with horseradish was placed upon the sick joint.

Kitchen
The root was used as a condiment on meats in Germany, Scandinavia, and Britain. It was introduced to North America during European colonialization; both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson mention horseradish in garden accounts.William Turner  mentions horseradish as Red Cole in his "Herbal" (1551–1568), but not as a condiment. In The Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes (1597), John Gerard describes it under the name of raphanus rusticanus, stating that it occurs wild in several parts of England. After referring to its medicinal uses, he says:

"[T]he Horse Radish stamped with a little vinegar put thereto, is commonly used among the Germans for sauce to eat fish with and such like meats as we do mustard."

The word horseradish is attested in English from the 1590s. It combines the word horse (formerly used in a figurative sense to mean strong or coarse) and the word radish.

Cooks use the terms "horseradish" or "prepared horseradish" to refer to the grated root of the pepparroot.




Horseradish sauce made from grated horseradish root and vinegar is a popular condiment in the United Kingdom and Poland.  In the UK, it is usually served with roast beef, often as part of a traditional Sunday roast; but can be used in a number of other dishes also, including sandwiches or salads. A variation of horseradish sauce, which in some cases may substitute the vinegar with other products like lemon juice  is known in Germany as Tafelmeerrettich. Also popular in the UK is  Tewkesbury mustard, a blend of mustard and grated horseradish originating in medieval times and mentioned by Shakespeare. Falstaff says: "his wit's as thick as Tewkesbury Mustard" (in Henry IV Part II). A very similar mustard, called Krensenf or Meerrettichsenf, is popular in Austria and parts of Eastern Germany.  In Russia  horseradish root is usually mixed with grated garlic and small amount of tomatoes for color.

In the US the term "horseradish sauce" refers to grated horseradish combined with mayonnaise or salad dressing. Prepared horseradish is a common ingredient in Bloody Mary cocktails and in cocktail sauce, and is used as a sauce or sandwich spread.

In Central and Eastern Europe horseradish is called khren, hren and ren (in various spellings like kren) in many Slavic languages, in  Austria, in parts of Germany (where the other German name Meerrettich is not used), in North-East Italy, and in Yiddish. There are two varieties of khreyn. "Red" khreyn is mixed with red beetroot and "white" khreyn contains no beetroot.

horseradish with beetroot

In Ashkenazi European Jewish cooking beetroot horseradish is commonly served with gefilte fish. In Transylvania  and other Romanian regions, Red beetroot with horseradish is also used as a salad served with lamb dishes at Easter. In Serbia, ren is an essential condiment with cooked meat and freshly roasted suckling pig.In Croatia, freshly grated horseradish is often eaten with boiled ham or beef.In Slovenia, and in the adjacent Italian regions and nearby Italian region of Veneto, horseradish (often grated and mixed with sour cream, vinegar, hard-boiled eggs, or apples) is also a traditional Easter dish.Further west in the Italian regions of  Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Piedmont, it is called "Barbaforte (strong beard)" and is a traditional accompaniment to Bollito misto. In the southern region of Basilicata it is known as "rafano" and used for the preparation of the so-called "rafanata", a main course made of horseradish, eggs, cheese and sausage. Horseradish is also used as a main ingredient for soups.

wasabi plant , painted by Asaki Kanen.

  
Relation to wasabi
The Japanese condiment wasabi although traditionally prepared from the true wasabi plant (Wasabia japonica), is now usually made with horseradish due to the scarcity of the wasabi plant. The Japanese botanical name for horseradish is seiyōwasabi or "Western wasabi". Both plants are members of the family brassicaceae.

 

 

Pests and diseases

Widely introduced by accident, "cabbageworms", the larvae of Pieris rapae, the Small White butterfly, are a common caterpillar pest in horseradish. The adults are white butterflies with black spots on the forewings that are commonly seen flying around plants during the day. The caterpillars are velvety green with faint yellow stripes running lengthwise down the back and sides. Full grown caterpillars are about 1-inch (25 mm) in length. They move sluggishly when prodded. They overwinter in green pupal cases. Adults start appearing in gardens after the last frost and are a problem through the remainder of the growing season. There are three to five overlapping generations a year. Mature caterpillars chew large, ragged holes in the leaves leaving the large veins intact. Handpicking is an effective control strategy in home gardens.

Common Purslane / Sommer Portulak

Portulaca oleracea



Common Purslane

Common purslane, also known as verdolaga, little hogweed, red root, or pursley and khorfe is an annual succulent in the family portulacaceae, which may reach 40 centimetres (16 in) in height. Approximately forty cultivars are currently grown. The plant was cultivated as a kitchen herb since antiquity. Purslane is very rich in C-vitamin and the important omega 3 fatty acids, which strengthen the immune Systeme. The plant is also diuretic. 

It has an extensive distribution throughout the Old World extending from North Africa and Southern Europe through the Middle East and the Iran, Indian Subcontinent to Malesia and Australasia. Scientists suggested that the plant was already eaten by Native Americans who spread its seeds. How it reached the New World is currently unknown. It is naturalised elsewhere, and in some regions is considered an introduced weed

Mostly prostrate stems and alternate leaves clustered at stem joints and ends. The yellow flowers have five regular parts and are up to 6 millimetres wide. Depending upon rainfall, the flowers appear at any time during the year. The flowers open singly at the center of the leaf cluster for only a few hours on sunny mornings. Seeds are formed in a tiny pod, which opens when the seeds are mature. Purslane has a taproot with fibrous secondary roots and is able to tolerate poor compacted soils and drought.

A common plant in parts of India, purslane is known as sanhti, punarva, paruppu keerai (Tamil), gangavalli(Telugu) or kulfa (Hindi) 

Australian aborigines use the seeds of purslane to make seedcakes.

Greeks, who call it andrakla or glystrida  use the leaves and the stems with feta cheese, tomato, onion, garlic, oregano and olive oil. They add it in salads, boil it, or add it to casseroled chicken.

In Turkey, besides being used in salads and in baked pastries, it is cooked as a vegetable similar to spinach, or is mixed with yogurt to form a tsatsiki variant.

Similarly, in Egypt, it is known as reglah  and cooked as a vegetable stew.

Called Bakleh in Syria and Lebanon, is eaten raw in a famous salad called fattoush, and cooked as a garniture in fatayeh (triangular salted pastries).

In Albania, known as burdullak, it also is used as a vegetable similar to spinach, mostly simmered and served in olive oil dressing, or mixed with other ingredients as a filling for dough layers of byrek.

In the south of Portugal (Alentejo), baldroegas are used as a soup ingredient.

In Pakistan, it is known as qulfa and is cooked as in stews along with lentils, similarly to spinach, or in a mixed green stew.

Known as Ma Chi Xian (pinyin: translates as "horse tooth amaranth") in traditional Chinese medicine Its leaves are used for insect or snake bites on the skin, boils, sores, pain from bee stings, bacillary dysentery, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, postpartum bleeding, and intestinal bleeding.

Use is contraindicated during pregnancy and for those with cold and weak digestion

Nutrition and chemicals of the plant read wikipedia

Denmark:
Common Purslane/ Sommer Portulak is an old kitchen herb which was known back from the 1500s. The fresh shots can be eaten raw in salads etc. The taste reminds about mangetout peas, but with a sour touch. In old garden books it was often classified as a spice herb. Both leaves and stalks can be cooked and be mixed into mashed potatoes, in soups and sauces. The leaves act as a smotthing. The plant is suitable for vinegar pickling and it  can also be caramelized when fried in an oven.



Folk Medicine:

Harpestræng ab. 1300s: the juice from the herb to drink or the herb to crush and put upon the stomach against fever; the crushed herb upon an aching tooth or sick eyes; the plant to take with salt and wine against indigestion; purslane was the part of an ointment for abscesses and wounds.

Henrik Smid 1546: the juice from the seeds and destilled water from the plant against stomach-, liver- and kindey diseases. The plant and the juice against cough, shortness of breath and gonorrhea.
Purslane attenuates the superfluous unchastity.
Herb or seeds crushed and mixed with barley flour upon forehead and temples against headache.
Juice or destilled water from the plant with rose oil rubbed upon the forehead give a restful sleep. 

Simon Paulli 1648: put the plant on left side of body against pains from malaria. 

1700s: at the pharmacy was sold a sirup from purslane seeds for childrens' stomach pain.

The seeds were written into the pharmacopoeia in 1772.

Kitchen:
In 1648 purslane /portulak grew in the Danish gardens, and the chefs used it in a salad. 
In 1800 purslane was used in soups, the chopped parts in kale soup.
The stalks were sugar candied like pumpkins, and vinegar pickled and used in a sharp sauce. 

 Superstition:
Purslane counteracts drunkenness.
If the plant hangs above the bed peope don't get bad dreams.


Livestock:
Purslane in the fodder provides greater milch production in cows.

Source of the Denmark-text: 
V.J.Brøndegaard: Dansk Etnobotanik 1978-80, Folk og Flora, Portulak/ Portulaca oleracea 



photo and image: wikipedia.

Dill / Dild - a useful and pretty spice herb

Anethum graveolens

Dill is an annual herb in the celery family apiaceae, and it is the only species in the genus Anethum. Dill is widely grown in Eurasia where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring food. Dill is related to fennel and parsley and its leaves are very similar to fennel. The Danish name Dild comes from a Nordic word meaning pjalt (rag), which might indicate that the plant has a Nordic relation from origin, contrarily to all other spice- and kitchen herbs.

Dill originates from Central Asia and the plant grows wild in the Middle East. It was known in ancient Egypt, and from here it spread to Greece, Rome and the rest of Europe. Today dill is first of all used in northern, middle and eastern Europe while it used to a minimum in the Mediterranean.

Dill grows up to 40–60 cm with slender hollow stems and alternate, finely divided, softly delicate leaves.  The flowers are white to yellow, in small umbels. Fresh and dried dill leaves (sometimes called "dill weed" to distinguish it from dill seed) are widely used as herbs in Europe and Central Asia.

Culinary

Dill is a commonly cultivated spice herb and medical plant. It is a magnificent  culinary spice and also used in tea. The young fresh leaves are used in salads and fish dishes and as a ganiture. Later in summer the ripe dill umbels are used as a spice in fx cucumber pickling. Like caraway, the fernlike leaves of dill are aromatic and are used to flavor many foods such as gravlax (cured salmon) and other fish dishes, borscht and other soups, as well as pickles. Dill is best when used fresh as it loses its flavour rapidly if dried; however, freeze-dried dill leaves retain their flavor relatively well for a few months.

Dill seeds, having a flavor similar to caraway but also resembling that of fresh or dried dill weed, is used as a spice. Dill oil  is extracted from the leaves, stems and seeds of the plant. The oil from the seeds is distilled and used in the manufacturing of soaps.

In central and eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Baltic states, Russia and Finland dill is a popular culinary herb, used in the kitchen along with chives or parsley. Fresh, finely cut dill leaves are used as topping in soups, especially the hot red borscht and the cold borsht mixed with curds, kefir, yoghurt, or sour cream, which is served during hot summer weather and is called okroshka. It is also popular in summer to drink fermented milk (curds, kefir, yoghurt, or buttermilk) mixed with dill (and sometimes other herbs).In Scandinavia dill is a common spice/kitchen herb.

In the same way, prepared dill is used as a topping for boiled potatoes covered with fresh butter – especially in summer when there are so-called "new", or young, potatoes. The dill leaves can be mixed with butter, making a dill butter, which can serve the same purpose.


The etheric oil is used in the perfume industry and in some liqueors.

Folk Medicine

Dill was recommended for breastfeeding women, since it stimulates the milch production and secures that the baby will get a better sleep. Dill seeds were often used as a laxative, and dill-water was drunk against nausea, acid reflux, flatulence and other stomach trouble. Henrik Smid warns against the use of dill since it makes people lazy and incapable of sex.  If the flower umbels were hung up by the bed they worked somnolent. Dill in oil was said to be effective against ear ache - and it was recommended as the best means against hickups. The etheric oil has a driving and calming effect. Abscesses from the plague were rubbed with dill.

Dill Snaps

The dill seeds were written in the pharmacopoeia in 1772.

Medicine for livestock:
Dill was used as a prevention against rinderpest. Calves with tympania were given dill-tea. Dill was also used in diseases of the horse.


Superstition:
A young girl should wear dill, when walking in the woods. At her wedding the bride should have dill seeds in her shoes, and the groom should have dill seeds in his pocket. This would make a happy wedding. Valborg-evening 30/4 or Midsummernight 24/6 the cattle was given dill with garlic as a protection against witchcraft. If the dill plant was placed upon the brewing tub the beer was not bewitched. On Christmas night dill and honey were given the cows as a protection against witchcraft. 


History:

Dill has a long history and  is mentioned already ab. 1500 BC in the Egyptian papyrus-rolls . Dill was also used in the Roman Empire and is mentioned here in a collection of recipes Apicius from ca. year 400 BC. The Romans brought the plant with north - later it was also spread with the monks up to Scandinavia.

In Anglo Saxon England, as prescribed in Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England (also called Læceboc, many of whose recipes were borrowed from Greek medicinal texts), dill was used in many traditional medicines, including those against jaundice, headache, boils, lack of appetite, stomach problems, nausea, liver problems, and many other ills. Dill seeds can also be used to prepare herbal tea. In ancient Greece fragrance was made from the leaves of dill. Also, athletes used to spread essence of dill all over their body, as muscle toner.

In 1967 were at the market of Copenhagen sold 1.125.375 bundles of dill.


images from wikipedia 

Source: Klosterurter, Krydderurter i haven, Køkkenurter, Brøndegaard: Folk og flora. 

Scots Lovage/ Skotsk Lostilk

Ligusticum scoticum, 

Scots lovage, or Scottish licorice-root,is a perennial plant of the family Umbelliferae, found near the coasts of northern Europe and north-eastern North America. It grows up to 60 centimetres tall and is found in rock crevices and cliff-top grassland. The plant is edible, with a flavour resembling parsley or celery. The edge of the triangular leaves may be toothed, lobed or serrated and are typically either a paler green or magenta. The flowers are greenish-white.

Ligusticum scoticum tastes and smells like parsley or celery, and was formerly widely eaten in western Britain, both for nutrition and to combat scurvy. The plant is primarily arctic, ranging from northern Norway to the northerly shores of the British Isles and from western Greenland to New England.  A related species, Ligusticum hultenii, occurs around the northern Pacific Ocean, from Japan to Alaska.

The Latin name Ligusticum refers to the home of the plant namely Liguria in northern Italy where several species of this plant-family grow wild, but the Ligusticum scoticum origins from Scotland where it grows at the rocky coast. It also grows wild at the coast of Norway. In Denmark Scots Lovage is rare and protected. It grows wild in a few places in Denmark  - a few populations in Thy and Han Herred. It is possible to cultivate Scots Lovage in the garden and be able to pluck and use this well-tasting herb. 

Within the British Isles, Ligusticum scoticum is only found on coasts where the mean annual temperature is below 15 °C (59 °F). Towards the southern end of its range, the plant performs poorly on south-facing sites. It grows in fissures in rocks, where it may be the only vascular plant, and also in cliff-top grassland communities. Ligusticum scoticum cannot tolerate grazing, and is harmed by the actions of nesting seabirds, it is therefore rarely found on bird cliffs, or where grazing sheep and rabbits are found. It is, however, tolerant of salt spray, and its growth has been shown to improve when given dilute seas water. The leaves of L. scoticum are frost-tolerant, and die back each winter, but regrow very rapidly the following spring. In the British Isles, flowering occurs from June to August, and the seeds are ripe in October or November; the timing is expected to be later at higher latitudes. The flowers of L. scoticum are visited by generalist pollinators, mostly flies.

 

Folk medicine: In the old days  the plant juice was considered to be calming, and a decoction was used as a drink against hysteria and insanity.  Insomnia was helped by placing the plant root under the pillow.

Ligusticum scoticum was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum.

Scots Lovage was earlier used as a medical herb against digestion problems and reumathism and the plant juice was used to promote child birth. Decoction from the root was working somnolent - therefore Scots Lovage was earlier knon as sleep herb (søvnurt). 
 

Food: today Scots Lovage is used in soups and fish dishes. 
In tea as a light somnolent drug like lemon balm.
 Parts of Scots Lovage are fine in the kitchen. The young leaves, the flowers and the unripe seeds are well suited to be eaten fresh fx in salad or as a decoration when serving the food. The leaves are most delicate when quite young before the plant is flowering. They taste good in a mixed tomato salad or - salsa together with cucumber, onion, mint leaves and an oil/lemon dressing. Young leaves can be mixed in the mince for fish cakes. The stems can be made into candy for confiture. Older leaves, the ripe seeds and the root can be used in stews. Scots lovage can naturally be the part of a Bouquet garni. The ripe grounded seeds can be used as a substitut for pepper. 

Superstition
If people suffered from insomnia they could pack the root into a sock and place it under the pillow

source: Danske Klosterurter, Anemette Olesen, 2001. 
photo: wikipedia

Lovage/Løvstikke

Levisticum officinale

wikipedia

Lovage, soup herb, maggi herb, bouillon herb.  

wikipedia

Lovage is an erect, herbaceous, perennial plant growing to 1.8–2.5 m tall with a strong rootstock and pale yellow flowers. The stems and leaves smell somewhat similar to celery when crushed. The flowers are yellow to greenish-yellow, flowering is in late spring. The fruit is a dry two-parted schizocarp 4–7 mm long, mature in autumn. Lovage prefers a deep, mouldy and calcareous soil with enough moist . The plant grows well in shadow or half shadow in gardens, and it can grow in the same place in over 15 years.

The homeland of the plant is unknown, but supposedly it origins from mountain woods in Central Asia or from the northern Iran. The plant can grow in altitudes of over 200 meter above sea level. Lovage is mentioned in Charlemagne's Kapitularium and was used as a kitchen herb and a medical plant since then. Today it is naturalized in many places , in Asia, North- and South America and in Europe (incl. Denmark). The monks brought the plant to Europe in the Middle Ages, and it has been  cultivated in Europe for centuries, the leaves being used as an herb, the roots as a vegetable, and the seeds as a spice, especially in southern European cuisine.Lovage is an unusual spice herb since it prefers a light shadow and must have water in dry periods. Lovage was earlier cultivated in farmers gardens for livestock medicine, but today it ias a spice herb in the garden and strayed here and there. In the old days it was - not known for any reason - plant in church yards.

The name "lovage" is from "love-ache", ache being a medieval name for parsley; this is a folk-etymological corruption of the older French name levesche, from late Latin levisticum, in turn thought to be a corruption of the earlier Latin ligusticum, "of liguria" (northwest Italy), where the herb was grown extensively.

In modern botanical usage, both Latin forms are now used for different (but closely related) genera, with Levisticum for (culinary) lovage, and ligusticum for Scots lovage, a similar species from northern Europe, and for related species.


Folk Medicine

wikipedia

A bath with lovage was said to heal gonorrhea. Decoction to drink in blatter and kidney disease and in stomach trouble. Lovage in the bath water could heal reumathic ailments, gouts, menstrual pain and migraine. To wash with lovage could give a clear skin and heal mouth ulcer and boils. Pulverized root in wine was drunk against blatter stones.Decoct of lovage could cure a bad eye sight.The dried and pulverized root was a part of a diuretic drink to people, infected by the plague.

photo: gb

Harpestræng ab. 1300: promotes digestion, was given against liver disorders , stomach pain, and as a diuretic. 
1400: water decoction against blatter stone; the juice in the eyes of a patient who was paralyzed and had lost his voice. The juice gives a pretty hair and a good scent. 
Christiern Petersen 1533:beer or wine decoction for liver and spleen disorders, against roundworms , crushed seeds with beer or wine decoction from lovage, hellebore, fennel and tansy in a balm upon leprous wounds.
Henrik Smid 1546: dried and pulverized root in food for a cold stomach, promotes digestion. Wine decoction from root and seeds drives out jaundice and " the black melancholia". Crushed seeds upon bites from vipers, spiders, mad dogs, lizards and scorpions -ease the pain and drive out the poison.
A linen cloth wettened with lovage water put on a swelling of the head; face bathed with lovage water gets clear, white and pretty skin, removes red and blue spots on the body after mange and boils.
Simon Paulli 1648: crushed roots and seeds in wine for pain.

photo:gb

An extraction vinaigre of lovage, burnet saxifrage and Angelica root was used against plague infection.Lovage was earlier used against mental disorders.The plant was a komponent of a snaps extraction against fever (malaria). The cooked plant was put upon arthritic limbs. 1700: tea from the leaves for urination difficulties. The root was a diuretic drug. 1757: the leaves were bound and put upon bites from snakes and lizards. The leaves as a cover and a milch decoction against blood infection.

1930s: A decoction was used as a refreshing drug. A doctor said (1930s) that if the Danish population used this plant all doctors would die of hunger or  have to look out for another occupation.
The Pharmacopoeia states seeds and root in 1772. 


Pets: If the dog or the cat keep on placing its "cards" in an unwanted place, then make a strong decoct of lovage  and pour it on the spot, which makes the animal go elsewhere. The dog or cat can also be washed with lovage to avoid it getting  vermins or mange.


Livestock

photo: gb

photo: gb

Lovage belonged in the old days to one of the most used remedies of the veteranian, and from this reason it was found in most farmer gardens from before 1900s. Since the antique Greek  writer Pedanios Dioskurides had described it as a universal medical means in the 1. century AC it was soon spread ampong the monks in the Middle Ages, and it came to Denmark with the monks in the 1100s. The whole plant was used, sometimes a bouquet bound around the cow's tail to protect it against evil spirits, other times cooked in water as lovage water or cooked together with sod and salt to a porridge which was given to sick cows. 

1800s: lovage was used as a preventive agent against all disease among the cattle, especially root and leaves were used for the cow's sickness  A sick cow got lovage root, salt and sod cooked together into a porridge, the animal had to be beaten with a coffin key between the horn while it was eating the porridge. In spring the cows had a tuft of grass with lovage - this would keep them healthy.
In late summer the cattle had a bottle of lovage water and was smeared with tar upon the mule.

1900s: Still in 1924 is mentioned the use of lovage against foot and mouth disease. Lovage tea was used against tympania, the root was a drug for cow premature abortion.

Lovage was a part of a means for the lung- and liverdisease of the horse and against leap worms.
 Lovage also used for sheep's disease.

wikipedia

Food: Lovage is a popular spice herb, used instead of bouillon and to spice the cooking water with the potatoes etc. Can also be a diuretic tea. The roots, which contain a heavy, volatile oil, are used as a mild aquaretic. Lovage root contains furanocoumarins which can lead to photosensitivity. In Romania it is also used dried and with seeds to conserve and to add flavour to pickled cabbage and cucumbers. The leaves can be used in salads, or to make soup or season broths, and the roots can be eaten as a vegetable or grated for use in salads. Its flavor and smell can be described as a mix of celery and parsley, but with a higher intensity of both of those flavors. The seeds can be used as a spice, similar to fennel seeds. In the UK, an alcoholic lovage cordial is traditionally mixed with brandy in the ratio of 2:1 as a winter drink. In Romania, the leaves are the preferred seasoning for the various local broths, much more so than parsley or dill. In the Netherlands it is the only non salt ingredient of a traditional asparagus dish.

The dried and pulverized root is (like pepper) a wonderful root for preparing food.  Young stems and leaves can be eaten; a couple of leaves good in the kale soup. A decoction of chopped leaves for cooked plaice and cod. Root and leaves have a strong spicy taste almost as a bouillon.

wikipedia

Leaves, chives and dill, dried in a spice vinegar.  Crushed root or plant as a spice in minced meat, sauce and sausage. The etheric oil of the root in perfume and perfumed tobaccos.   

In 1942 (during WWII) a poultry slaughterhouse in Denmark used lovage for producting chicken soup -  and lovage was cultivated on large areas for this purpose.

In England the young shots of the root  are made into candy. Lovage is also used as a spice in the liquor industry.

photo gb

Superstition: Lovage in the bath water incites to love making. A bouquet of lovage hang above the door chase away the devil. Lovage hang by the house door kept away the black death, and if one chewed a lovage root the plague could not infect a human.
In the times of the plague it was beneficial to hang lovage in front of the doors and keep the root in the mouth as a protection against infection. Lovage was a universel cure against witchcraft. 

The plant was put under the doorstep of the stable which brought luck to the cattle and it was a protection against spell in the cattle.

A wise woman in Himmerland put lovage root and fly rowan and a note with a spell at the doorstep of a stable which brought the farmer good luck with his cattle.

wikipedia

Wolves get together when someone blows in a lovage stem. Roots and other parts of lovage put in the forest make wild animal approach.

Source: 
Brøndegaard, Folk og Flora, bd. 3, Dansk Etnobotanik 1978. 
Danske Klosterurter, Anemette Olesen, 2001
Krydderurter i haven, Anemette Olesen, 1998
Wikipedia, Danish and English

photos: grethe bachmann

photos: wikipedia

That was a good TV-Experience from lovely Italy........

University of Bologna, (photo wikipedia)

I just saw an episode "The Art of the Feast" with Andrew Graham-Dixon and Giorgio Locatelli in TV - series Italy Unpacked. They  travel through Italy exploring the country's history, culture, food, art and landscape.

This first time I saw it was also the very first episode I guess. They began in Bologna, la Dotta, la Grassa,la Rossa. They visit shops, art institutions and the oldest university in the world.  I was not aware this was the oldest Uni in the world, but it is great to get some information. I like that kind of TV -  and I always love to see something from sunny Italy. I can almost feel the sun is shining when I see this golden light in Bologna and the district, but then I look out my window and see reality: a dark and grey winter's day. .

I like those two guys, with their mix of English and Italian talk, they are so enthusiastic about things.  They suit well together and I'm looking forward to the next shows.

I wonder what car they drive. Seem to be Graham-Dixons car  He told he is a fan of great cars. They visited the Ferrari Museum in Modena. Great architecture by the Czech Jan Kaplický

An Italian lady made pasta in a beautiful Italian room which was actually a shop where you could buy pasta.  In the Bologna way. Not with durum flour, but with light flour. I have sometimes made pasta in that way (Fettucine) and it tastes heavenly, much much better than the pasta you buy in the supermarket. Maybe I should make some pasta this week. Although this one is very rich. Lots of calories -  la Grassa.


And there was much more about good food in the region :  like Balsamico and Parma ham etc.

Palazzo Diamanti, Ferrara (photo Google Earth )

The Palazzo Diamanti in Ferrara is mildly said a special building, each building stone is shaped like a diamond. It was built ab. 1495, the building master was duke Ercole d'Este, the master of many of the most famous buildings in Ferrara. He had a nickname : Diamond.  His daughter Isabella d'Este was a famous woman in history, she was one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance. (She is one of my favorite Italian personalities from history). His son Alfonso got married to another famous Italian woman, Lucrezia Borgia.

There is a funny, charming scene where Giorgio Locatelli views an original copy of the first cook book of Italy at the old Palatino Library in Parma. And there is a beautiful look at Corregio's fresco in the dome of Parma Cathedral.

The information is  perfetto , all in good humour and with lots of charm. 

Good TV- experience. I'm looking forward to the next.


Buona notte!

Thyme, Timian

Thymus vulgaris

Thymus vulgaris


Thyme is a half bush with square stalks, green leaves, dark violet, white or pink flowers. The herb has a very pleasant aroma which attracts honey bees.

Thyme is today a wellknown and popular spice herb all over the worl. The plant originated in the Mediterranean  regions and is known from time immemorial. It is an evergreen herb with culinary, medicinal and ornamental uses. The most common variety is Thymus vulgaris. Thyme is of the genus thymus of the mint family lamiaceae and a relative of oregano and it is one of the oldest spice herbs. It was already mentioned by the Sumerers 5000 BC. The Greek word thymus means power. The herb grows wild in all of southern Europe and is found up to a height of 1000 meter.

Ancient Egypt, Anubis attending embalming of mummy

Ancient Egyptians used thyme for embalming. The ancient Greeks used it in their baths and burnt it as incense in their temples, they believed it was a source of courage. The Greeks wore it on the breast and took a thyme bath before they went to war. Olympic masters were garlanded with thyme. The spread of thyme throughout Europe was thought to be due to the Romans, as they used it to purify their rooms and to "give an aromatic flavour to cheese and liqueurs".

Fairy, Midsummer Eve, E.R. Hughes 1908

In the European Middle Ages, the herb was placed beneath pillows to aid sleep and ward off nightmares. In the days of chivalry ladies would embroider a bee hovering over a sprig of thyme to present to their champions at the tournaments.  The association with magic and fairies was particularly noticeable during Shakespeare's time. In the Ashmolean museum in Oxford is a recipe dated 1600 that includes thyme, which will enable one to see the fairies. Medicinally thyme has been associated with the treatment of depressions. Thyme was also used as incense and placed on coffins during funerals , as it was supposed to assure passage into the next life.

 






In Denmark 
Thyme was a daily spice upon the king's dinner table in the summer 1541,  and it is mentioned in 1613 about some purchase of thyme seeds to the royal garden at Skanderborg Slot. In 1650 as a cut thyme-frame of garden beds; it had to be cut two days before New Moon. The thyme plant was known by both rich and poor in Denmark. Yearly was sowed and plant numerous plants - and people said that "it was really not necessary to tell everyone that they used thyme in the kitchen every day -  for everyone knew that it was one of the finest food herbs". 

In a market today

Gardeners from Funen sold in the 1700s seeds and plants of thyme at markets in Holstein and Jutland, and it was probably exported to Norway.  Thyme was called craddle straw like other strongly scenting herbs which could drive away bed fleas. In the Middle Ages it was often called Virgin Mary's Bedstraw  (Jomfru Maries sengehalm) like another herb, yellow bedstraw. Thyme was also called bee herb, the honey bees love thyme  In autum thyme was bound into garlands around hoops and hung to dry in the ceiling and later at the attic for use in the next winter.

At the market in Copenhagen was in 1967 sold 295.000 bundles of thyme.




Thymus vulgaris : common thyme, English thyme, summer thyme, winter thyme, French thyme or garden thyme is a commonly used culinary herb. It also has medical uses. Common thyme is a Mediterranean perennial which is best suited to well drained soils and full sun.
(There are about 100 varieties of thyme) 

Thymus serpyllum , Boeslum, Mols, photo gb

In Denmark are two species of wild growing thyme:
1) *Thymus serpyllum (DK: smalbladet timian)is low and creeping and a very branchy halfbush with red flowers in dense heads, it is common in dry sandy fields and hills, in hedges,wickets, in dunes, in heathers etc like its very alike 2) Thymus pulegioides (DK: bredbladet timian) 

 Thymus serpyllum: wild thyme, creeping thyme is an important nectar source plant for honeybees. All thyme species are nectar sources, but wild thyme covers large areas of droughty, rocky soils in southern Europe, both Greece and Malta are especially famous for wild thyme honey. The lowest growing of the widely used thyme is good for walkways  It is also an important caterpillar plant for large and common blue butterflies.

Other varieties:

Thymus pseudolanuginosus: wooly thyme is not a culinary herb, but is grown as a ground cover.

Thymus herba-barona: caraway thyme is used both as a culinary herb and a ground cover and has a very strong caraway scent due to the chemical cavone

Thymus citriodorus, wikimedia

Thymus citridiodorus  - various lemon thymes, orange thymes, lime thymes. Lemon thyme is a creeping wintergreen plant with a strong lemon taste. It has blue flowers in June- July - it is a fine and useful plant, both in the herbal garden and the rock garden. As a medicine plant it is used against whooping cough, diarrhea and stomach pain. It has wound-healing properties and is used in mouth water, in gum inflammation and as a cover on wounds and scratches. As a spice herb it is used instead of lemon balm, fx in fish dishes and salads. A little twig of lemon thyme in the tea takes a bitter taste and sweetens the tea and makes sugar unneccessary. The plant thrives well in a sunny place in the garden in sandy soil. Spring and summer the plant easily takes roots. It grows fast and it keeps green in normal winters, but much bare frost might take the green.


The name of the genus of fish thymallus, first given to the grayling (T. thymallus described in the 1758 edition of systema naturae by Swedish zoologist Carl Linneaeus) originates from the faint smell of the herb thyme, which emanates from the flesh.


Garden

Herb garden, Boller slot, photo: gb

Garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris)  is a relatively  hardy plant which can withstand to be trodden on. It is very suited to be plant among the tiles and stones, where it will spread as a thick and scenting carpet. The creeping growth of thyme makes it a fine ground covering plant in many sunny beds of the garden, where it can prevent outdrying of the soil and keep down the weeds. It is also good in the rock garden.

Thyme seeds keep their viability for about 3 years. Thyme can grow in the same place in the garden for about 3-4 years, it can be cut down in spring to prevent the plant from getting lanky and wooden-like, old plants can be divided and plant again. Thyme can also sow itself  and these small plants can be plant out in the garden.

Thyme is suitable for planting in pots and bowls at the terasse, and since it is very drought tolerant it can be plant on the sunny places in the garden slopes. In England it is a popular thing to plant several varieties of thyme together in a lawn. It will quickly become an entwined carpet with flowers, scent and attraction to the bees.

To harvest in high season July-August: cut the stalks off and bundle them, put in small brown paperbags after drying, keep in bags until use in kitchen, crumble the bouquets over a sieve which gives a fine and smooth spice  - and it is easier to remove the little branches.

All thymes can easily be propagated with herbaceous cuttings,  many varieties of thyme tend to get a course growth if they are not cut back in spring. It is best to plant thyme in a sunny place, but else the plant is not asking much as for the soil. If a garden has some big areas it is popular to arrange thyme lawns with stepping stones, which is commonly seen in the English country garden. Every four years it is best to replace the plant, take cuttings from the second year on for this purpose.

The young thyme plants are the most vigorous, it is good to renew the plant each second year. Thyme likes a sunny place and its aromatic substances gets heavyer in the sunshine. If the garden-soil is heavy, mix it with sand or grovel, winter-cover is also a good idea, hard winters can eliminate the thyme in the garden. In dry periods thyme must be watered in spite of its hardiness.

Thyme was cultivated in the gardens of Thorshavn, the Faroes in 1780. 



Food

Thyme is sold both fresh and dried. While summer-seasonal, fresh greenhouse thyme is often available year round. The fresh form is more flavourful, but also less convenient; storage life is rarely more than a week. Although the fresh form only lasts a week or two under refrigeration, it can last many months if carefully frozen The plant can take deep freezes and are found growing wild on mountain highlands along the Italian Riviera, it is found from sea level up to 800 m.


Thyme retain its flavour on drying better than many other herbs.It is a common component of the bouquet garni and of herbes de Provence. The lovely aroma of thyme makes is very useful in the kitchen. The fresh leaves as a spice in meat, fish, poultry and in soups. Thyme gives a welltasting tea and is a good pickle spice fx for pickled beetroots, onions or in common pickles.The thyme flowers can be used as a decoration or mixed in a salad dressing, they have a sweet taste and are pretty as a decoration in every kind of dessert.

An old dish from  the Danish island Funen is called "sve". It is thyme and onion in sheep-blood, cooked  with oats to a thick porridge  

Thyme was added to sausage, cabbage and all slaughtering food  When the pig intestines were cleansed they lay until next use in water with a big bundle of thyme which removed eventual bad smell. 

Wild thyme is not worth using as a spice herb, but it was used as a spice in sausages and cabbage if people had no garden thyme. It was said that if a pig eat much thyme it would get a taste like wild boar.

Other Use
Thyme keeps colour and scent very well after drying and is good in a scent potpourri and to bring taste in a snaps







Folk Medicine/Medicine

Old pharmacy, Viborg Museum, photo gb

Thyme was used as a mild antiseptic herb for both outer and inner use, it was a good tea against insomnia, especially very hot and mixed with honey. Thyme was used in cough mixtures and in medicine for the digestive system , an oil from thyme was used to treat shingles.Thyme was also used against female diseases and  in chastity rituals.  Thyme was mixed into the bed straw against fever and dwindling sot  A decoction was used against whooping cough, croup and bronchitis. An oil essence and extraction of thyme was sold at the pharmacy as a cough medicine 

Thyme cooked together with other spice herbs and used as a cover on knots or bumps and bruises.  Thyme in very hot tea upon a sore tooth.  Oil from garden thyme added to mouth water against toothache. The Pharmacopoeia sold Thymus serpyllum and Thymus vulgaris in 1772.   At the Faroes the tea was used as a stomach strengthener and at Greenland the tea was drunk to heal manic insanity.

A tea of equal parts of thyme, peppermint, bay leaf  and camomile was used against fatigue.
medicine


The volative oil thymol, which gives the strong scent is very antibacterial and was in the past used to desinfect hospital tools.  In folk medicine it was used against menses-pain, diarrhea, coughs and

Old pharmacy jar, Viborg museum, photo gb

headache. It is still recommended up till present as a tea for a soar throat and hangovers. Thymol is extracted in the medicinal industry, it is used in mouth water, tooth paste and as a means against tooth ache, and as an ingredience in some desinfectants. The oil is a part of a medicine against whooping cough.









The old Physicians' Medicine:

old medicine bottes, Viborg museum, photo gb

Henrik Harpestræng ab 1300: thyme crushed with vinegar and rose oil in a balm against headache, a decoction was a part of food, so people did not get hurt by worms and other poisonous animals while they were sleeping in the field. Thyme was used as a cover on bites and poisonous stings. Poisonous animals flee from the smoke of burning thyme. 

Christiern Pedersen 1533
Thyme was part of a gout patch, and as a wine decoction against nausea,  the juice of thyme upon

haemorrhoids, crushed thyme mixed with salt was put upon fistulas and cancer. 

Henrik Smid 1546 
A decoction with thyme casts out slime of the kidneys and blatter and stops intestinal twisting,
he also uses thyme as an antidote in bites of posisonous animals. They  were driven away by the smoke from thyme  Thyme was a multi-medicine and used in all kinds of diseases. Mentioning a few: Thyme heals bowles which are sore after blood sot = dysentery; it strengthens the brain to smell to the plant, it can be put upon the head against dissiness, garden thyme cooked in wine is good for shortness of breath , drives out worms, poison, dead embryo etc. 

Simon Paulli 1648
Oil of thyme against head and kidney pain, clusters of garden thyme put in beer as a means for melancholia, wild thyme has empowering and expectorant properties. as a part of a balm it was in the 1700s used as a cover for headache and dissiness. Used in a tea against colic  A decoction to children with intestinal worms 

Farmhands chamber, Hjerl Open Air Museum, photo gb

Superstition; and against vermits
An advice to the farmer: Pluck thyme silently and put it under the first sheaf of straw, this will keep away the rats.
The bedstraw which was delivered to Christian 4. was mixed with thyme as a protection aginast bed fleas. or else it was said that wild thyme only drove away women's fleas and not men's fleas. 
Chicken with fleas or other vermins were smoked with thyme and hops. 
Against flea beetles put out thyme mixed with wormwood and garlic.

Replacement of tea, hops and tobacco.

Shag tobacco, wikipedia

Children in the country were sent out with a basket to pluck wild thyme, which was dried and gave a tea substitute in winter (1880) The tea was added sugar and cinnamon  An old saying was "this tea you must have when the windows are white" = when it is hard frost. Wild thyme tea was in the 1800s recommended as a substitute for hops Also in Greenland was wild thyme used as a tea 
InWWII thyme was dried into shag tobacco, and already in 1780-1800 they used the thyme as tobacco and to chew. 







Livestock 

Hjerl Hede Open Air Museum, photo gb

Thyme was a part of a cover upon the abscesses of the horse. Wine with crushed thyme was rubbed upon the tongue of a cow against heart- inflammation. Tea of thyme was used to bathe the cattle against the food and mouth disease. 














photo: market, Thymus serpyllum, pharmacy, Viborg Museum, Hjerl Hede Open Air Museum: grethe bachmann
other photos: wikipedia
Sketches: grethe bachmann  

Source:
Krydderurter i haven , Anemette Olesen, Politiken, 1996/1998. 
Danske klosterurter, Anemette Olesen Aschehoug 2001.
Brøndegaard, Folk og Flora, bd. 4, Thymus vulgaris.
Krydderurtehaven paa knatten , Annemarta Borgen,
A Garden Herbal Anthony Gardiner
Ceres Esplan Helbredende urter 1981, Hernovs forlag, oversat af Hans Henrik Sørensen og Michael Beck fra Vitskøl Kloster. Original titel: "Herbal teas, tisanes and loitions."