Your Herb-filled Summer - 5 mouthwatering food/herb pairings

This is the fourth and final article in our summer herb series. After 5 Herbs No Kitchen Should Be Without, 5 Key Steps to Growing Amazing Herbs and 5 Ideas for Inspired Herb Gardens, it’s time to talk about food/herb pairings. So trade in your gardening gloves for oven mitts!

In the kitchen, herbs can be used flavour, enhance, and even transform all kinds of dishes. And while you can’t go wrong with classic pairings, here are some more daring combos to try this summer. Happy tasting!

Basil

• Classic pairings:

In Italian and Mediterranean dishes made with tomatoes, olive oil, lemon, and other fresh ingredients.

• Pairings to try:

In red fruit jams (strawberry, blackberry, currant) or with chocolate in mousses or cakes.

Cilantro

• Classic pairings:

In Asian dishes such as soups and noodles or rice with soy sauce, or in Indian dishes such as butter chicken.

• Pairings to try:

In fresh mango salads or in gazpacho made with garden tomatoes.

Dill

• Classic pairings:

In seafood or fish (salmon) recipes and in veal, chicken, or pork dishes.

• Pairings to try:

In a fresh cucumber salad, cottage cheese bread, or in the morning with goat cheese scrambled eggs.

Mint

• Classic pairings:

In Italian, Tunisian, and Moroccan dishes and, of course, any lamb recipe.

• Pairings to try:

In cheese and cucumber cakes, melon and nut muffins, or seasonal strawberry pies.

Oregano

• Classic pairings:

In grilled poultry and rabbit dishes, in mayonnaise, or on homemade pizzas.

• Pairings to try:

In orange vinaigrette, parmesan ricottas, tomato popcorn, or braised paprika beef.

That wraps up our article on herb pairings and our series of four articles on herbs. We hope you’ve found some useful tips for growing and enjoying your herbs.

Feel free to share all these articles. Who knows? Your neighbours might be inspired to share their herbs and recipes with you over the summer!