PARSLEY /PERSILLE

 

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine

 

Spice Herb

Petroselinum crispum

Parsley Petroselinum crispum is a species of Petroselinum in the family Apiaceae, native to the central Mediterranean region and naturalized elsewhere in Europe - it is widely cultivated as a herb, a spice and a vegetable. The Latin name Petroselinum means "that which grows upon a cliff". Parsley was in ancient time shipped from Egypt to Greece and brought on to the Romans who brought it with them to Middle Europe. Today it is cultivated all over the world. Two main groups of parsley used as herbs are curly leaf and the Italian flat leaf group (Petroselinum crispum neapolitanum). The flat leaf group more closely resembles the natural wild species. 


In Denmark parsley is not a part of our wild flora but it is often seen feral from cultivating. Parsley is the spice herb most commonly used in Scandinavia.

The fresh look of the plant means that it can be cultivated among the flowers in the garden and it is a fine border plant in the kitchen garden. The ancient Greek gardens were often framed with a border of parsley. Flat-leaved parsley is preferred by some gardeners as it is easier to cultivate, it is more tolerant of both rain and sunshine and has a stronger flavor, while curley leaf parsley is preferred by others because of its more decorative appearance in garnishing. A third type, sometimes grown in southern Italy, has thick leaf stems resembling celery.

Devil, Fanefjord, Møn /GB

Parsley is biennial, the second year arrive lots of umbels with yellowgreen flowers and with the characteristic two-piece fruits. After the blooming season the leaves have a bitter taste. Parsley is easy to cultivate but it takes 7-8 weeks before you see a hint of something above ground. In the old days it was said that it took such a long time because the little seeds had to go seven times to and from the devil to ask permission to get up. Each tour took one week. But when Christianity arrived all the poor  little seeds had to go seven times to and from the pope before they could get up through the soil.

The seeds can be sowed directly in the earth or in pots in spring. Some give the advice to put the seeds in lukewarm water for 24 hours before sowing.  The seeds have a bitter taste and are not suited for food. Parsley does not require the big care, but the rows with the new plants must be kept free of weed and the earth must be loose  If the parsley stands in a very sunny spot it is necessary to  water them regularly. Parsley should never be cultivated in the same place two years in a row.

 

You can start to pluck the leaves as soon as the plant has achieved a fair size. If the plants get enough water they will grow well. Parsley tolerates low temperatures well and you will be able to pluck fresh parsley until Christmas. The plant can overwinter but likes to be covered with sprigs of spruce in the cold period, then you'll have the old plant to pluck in early spring until it blooms and withers, while the newly sowed parsley grows up and is ready for use in early summer. 

Before the cold weather arrives in the winter season the plant can be moved to a pot and brought inside.  When the leaves are plucked regularly the plant will remain fine and bushy. 
 

Kitchen: 

 A Greek proverb "to be in the parsley" means that you have just started something. 
Parsley can be used as aroma and flavor enhancer in various dishes like vegetables, sauces, soups, stew and fish. Parsley reconciles all kinds of flavor so they go up in an artitstic unit. Parsley leaves and root should be used while fresh, they should not be kept more than two days before use. The leaves loose quickly the C-vitamin contents which is also reduced by cooking 

Fines herbes is traditionally: estragon, parsley, chervil, chives.

Bouquet of herbs for bouillabaise: fennel, lovage, 1 stalk hyssop, parsley, thyme, basil, sage, a bay leaf, and a little whole allspice. 

Parsley can be frozen or dried, when it is dried it is easy to crush in the hand. When drying parsley the leaves easily grow yellow if the drying proces is too long. It is better to dry the leaves in an open oven by 35 degrees  The dried leaves are kept in a glass jar.

After a big meal a cup of parsley tea or a little parsley in vegetable juice is good. If you chew parsley after meals with garlic or onion you'll get a fresh breath .Fresh parsley is also suited for freezing. Put fx finely chopped parsley in the icecube tray and it is then ready to put into the sauce.  

Poisonous:

The difference between parsley and hemlock: crushed hemlock has a very unpleasant odor resembling cat piss. 
 

History:

Parsley is described in a Greek herbal in the 3rd century B.C. In the Middle Ages parsley was often called the Devil's herb. People were convinced it meant death if the plant was moved from its place. The ancient Greeks considered parsley a bad plant and as a symbol of death and therefore it was used in funeral rituals.

In Rome however parsley was very popular. A garland of parsley was said to stop drunkenness - and the Romans had already discovered its good qualities in the kitchen too. 

In Greek mythology the hero Archemorus took part in the Istmian Games -  religious festivals which were celebrated at the island Isthmos in honor of the god Poseidon. Archemorus was wounded and when the drops of blood fell to the ground the parsley grew up and a victory garland was made for him from the herb. The Greeks and Romans decorated themselves with festival garlands where bunches of parsley were braided together with other plants and flowers.

King Mithridates, king of Pontos, was a fine botanist who knew all poisonous plants. He murdered his own family with poison, but he was afraid of being poisoned himself, and he invented an effective antidote: thyme, coriander, rue and many other spice herbs and lots of parsley. Nero later improved the  recipe.

Medicine:

The Romans gave the gladiators parsley before they had to go to fight in the arena -  it had almost the same effect as the spinach had on Pop-eye whose arm muscles grew to the double !

Parsley was also used as a medicine plant in Antiquitiy, but Plinius warned however people against eating parsley beause it might make men and women unable to have children. 

Plinius also wrote that the plant was useful to spread in a fish pond in order to cure sick fish.

Highly fragrant plants  had a prominent place among the contraceptives and here was the origin of the brides' myrtle wreath, which should manifest that she no longer needed to drink parsley tea. Since parsley is strongly diuretic and contractive with a strong effect on the uterus, parsley oil was in the past used as a means to induce abortion, The frivolous girls' streets in Paris were called "The Parsley Streets". 

 

Parsley is a useful drug as well as a well-tasting spice herb. In spite of some superstition parsley was highly appreciated in ancient times, also as an effective aphrodisiac. The doctors prescribed it in medicine for almost all everything. It was also in great demand as for gastronomy -  and Galen said about 1800 years ago that it was a good and healthy herb to have in the garden. Culpeper said that parsley was ruled by Mercury who was the light messenger of the gods  Later he became the protector of the highwaymen and the god of trade.

parsley root, wiki

In medicine it was especially the root and the seeds of the plant which were used. They were a good help in bladder diseases, urinary infections, dropsy, kidney disorders. Soldiers in WWI, who suffered from kidney disorders associated with diarrhea, had prescribed parsley. Parsley's etheric oil contains apiol which irritates the kidneys and therefore works strongly diuretic. It is also used in rheumatic diseases, since it works conducive on the secretion  of accumulated waste products in the body. 

As said above parsley is strongly diuretic and well suited for the treatment of urinary infections and for water retention, parsley stimulates the uric acid excretion and is good for gout, it increases the amount of breast milk and works stimulating in the musculature of the womb. It is the cause using parsley in migraine, asthma and other conditions which have to do with cramps in the smooth musculature. The substance apiol, which is a part of the etheric oil, works however specifically stimulating on the musculature in the uterus. Apiol is by far the highest concentration of the seeds and pregnant women should not take parsley seeds or compositions made from these. 

Parsley , wiki

Parsley was like uniper berries a means against edemas and a good means against long bladder infections The parsley seeds were used in a decoct against malaria, and it was used as a painkilling medicine in neurological disorders. The fresh leaves were put on tumors and insect bites.It was also used in problems with prostate after an inflammation. A mix of chopped parsley, salt and oil was used against toothache. 

The fruits and the root are still used in folk medicine against kidney disorders and dysmenorrhea, intestinal colic and as a diuretic. 

Warning: Since the fruits -  because of the apiol-content - in large doses and for a  long times' use  can give severe liver damage, intestinal inflammations and even paralysis of the central nervous system they must be used with utmost care, 

Vitamines 

Parsley is extremely valuable as a nutrient. 
Lots of vitamin A, it is also one of the most valuable  C-vitamin plants which contains almost twice as much ascorbin acid as black currant. Besides this it has also considerable amount of B vitamin . Parsley has seven times more A vitamin than carrots and four times more than in Spinach and it is very rich in minerals. Parsley is also rich in iron and strengthens the blood.

Cosmetics

Decoct of parsley as face water or upon protruding veins. 
Parsley juice used to bleach freckles. 

Macerated in water used as a hair rinse.

Source:
Anemette Olesen: Krydderurter i Haven; Annemarta Borgen: Krydderurtehaven på Knatten; Helbredende urter, Politiken ; Li Hillker: Naturens egen lægebog;  Magna Leth: Havens Krydderurter; Lægeplanter i farver, Politiken ; Hans Wohlmuth: Lægeplanter og Krydderurter til husbehov.

foto: grethe bachmann
foto: 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. 

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

Rosemary /Rosmarin

Spice Herb

Rosmarinus officinalis.

There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember.” 

William Shakespeare, Hamlet 

Rosmarinus officinalis is an evergreen halfbush which is often sold and cultivated as if it was a perennial. It is cultivated for its aromatic leaves, used in various Mediterranean inspired dishes. The plant contains a strongly fragrant tacky rresin. The leaves are narrow and grey-greenish and the little flowers are pale blue to dark blue . tTe flowers arrive early spring (in Denmark often in March-April). The fruits are nuts, each with an Elaiosome. The roots go very deep with many fine side roots. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which includes many other herbs. The name "rosemary" derives from the Latin  "dew" (ros) and "sea" (marinus), or "dew of the sea" The plant is also sometimes called anthos, from ancient Greek, meaning "flower". Rosemary's natural habitat is in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, where it prefers light-open, dry places with a calcareous and nutrient-poor soil. Rosemary is used as a decorative plant in gardens where it may have pest-control effects.


Rosemary in Denmark.

In Denmark rosemary is one of the oldest houseplants, it was cultivated around 1500s and maybe even earlier. In 1559 the king's gardener had to provide rosemary plants for the king's herb garden, and in 1618 were 60 rosemary plants provided for the royal garden at Rosenborg slot. It is told about one of Chr. 4's daughters that she did not tolerate the scent of rosemary since it reminded her of the death of her childhood friend. Rosemary is mentioned in the first Danish garden book from 1647. It was said that it should be planted and cultivated in "posh gardens" . The plant was also a part of the verse in some Danish psalms. Rosemary was used as a houseplant outside in summer and inside in winter, but the cultivation ceased almost completely around 1850, and in 1880 Rosemary was referred to as a rare plant.  


Medicine/Folk Medicine
Christiern Pedersen 1533: wine decoction to drink against various diseases; to smoke the crushed plant into the nostrils against headache and sneezing; a water- or beer decoction of rosemary and 
rue (herb-of-grace) -  or a wine decoction of rosemary against epilepsy. The leaves were eaten as an appetizer. The dry leaves to take with a drink against stomach pain. Crushed rosemary upon haemorroids. Rub black teeth with a powder of burnt twigs.
Henrik Smid 1546: wine decoction of flowers to drive out jaundice, to counteract shortness of breath, stimulate the digestion , this decoction was an antidote, it was cleansing the blood and it was diuretic.  Destilled water from the plant in order to regain a lost voice. Rosemary sugar strengthens the brain and heart and counteracts poison.
Simon Paulli 1648 said:  " this herb is one of the very best for the weaknesses of the head and extremely good to use against strokes, epilepsy, catarrh, weak eyes, dizziness, toothache, pain in the tongue and in the whole body, stitches in the chest, shortness of breath , vomitting, jaundice, colic, flatulence, diarrhea ". Malaria patients were cured with Rosemary oil. The pharmacy had a Rosemary balm, which was rubbed under the nose in times of the plague . 

The rosemary leaves and flowers were written into the Pharmacopoeia in 1772  and in a medical book in 1807.

In the 1700s and 1800s:  rub rosemary oil on the forehead against frenzy. Wine and rosemary for a weak heart ; rosemary as a component in snaps against gout. Tea of rosemary and lemon balm against various diseases; rosemary tea was a good help for the whooping cough. Old peope should bathe their weak eyes with rosemary in snaps; a decoction of rosemary against toothache and against hair loss.

Live stock: horses were smoked with rosemary for various horse-diseases. A decotoion of rosemary drove out lice, mange and scab of livestock.

Other use: Rosemary is used in the kitchen for both food and drink. The leaves are used to flavor various foods, such as stuffings and roast meats. The dry leaves in vinegar and for giving a steak a taste of game .Rosemary oil is used for purposes of fragrant bodily perfumes or to emit an aroma into a room. It is also burnt as incense, and used in shampoos and cleaning products.


Legend/Mythology
According to legend, it was draped around the Greek goddess Aphrodite when she rose from the sea, born of Uranus' semen.  The Virgin Mary is said to have spread her blue cloak over a white-blossomed rosemary bush when she was resting, and the flowers turned blue. The shrub then became known as the "Rose of Mary"

In the Middle Ages, rosemary was associated with wedding ceremonies. The bride would wear a rosemary headpiece and the groom and wedding guests would all wear a sprig of rosemary. From this association with weddings, rosemary was thought to be a love charm.

In myths, rosemary has a reputation for improving memory and has been used as a symbol for remembrance during war commemorations and funerals in Europe and Australia. Mourners would throw it into graves as a symbol of remembrance for the dead.

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ophelia says, "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance." (Hamlet, iv. 5.) In Australia, sprigs of rosemary are worn on ANZAC Day and sometimes Remembrance Day  to signify remembrance; the herb grows wild on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Hungary water was first prepared for the Queen of Hungary Elizabeth of Poland to " ... renovate vitality of paralyzed limbs ... " and to treat gout. It was used externally and prepared by mixing fresh rosemary tops into spirits of wine. Don Quixote, (Part One, Chapter XVII) mixes it in his recipe of the miraculous balm of Fierabras.


Music/ TV 
The song "Scarborough Fair " (popularised by Simon and Garfunkel) has the refrain "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" which is also the title of their third studio album.

Rosemary and Thyme is the name of a British TV detective series, starring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferrim.
Rosemary song by Suzanne Vega, first published 1998 on her album Tried and True. 



Source: Brøndegaard, Dansk Etnobotanik, folk og flora, bd. 4. / Dansk wikipedia /British Wikipedia
photo: wikipedia
sketch: gb

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."