I’ve always been crazy about fresh herbs—so crazy, in fact, that I used to raid the Cloisters gardens in Manhattan, stealing a sprig of oregano, rosemary, or thyme just to keep myself in supply.

今天，我不需要这样的战术。我很幸运地拥有自己的许多最爱的花园：百里香，咸味，细香葱，紫色的鼠尾草，长矛敏感，薰衣草等。对于那些我无法在前院壮成长的草药，我还有另一个方便的（合法）来源：当地的超市。如今，储存良好的杂货经常携带塔拉贡（Tarragon）和马约拉姆（Marjoram）等草药，以及罗勒和迷迭香等最爱。

Such availability is a dream come true for me, but I’ve noticed that many people are intimidated by this abundance of choice. How many passionate cooks (professionals as well as amateurs) buy fresh herbs, use maybe a few sprigs, and then proceed to forget about the rest of the bunch until they’re dried out, limp, or spoiled? Many, I know. Why do they let these wonderfully fragrant flavorings expire in the back of their refrigerators? Because they don’t know how best to store and handle them, and perhaps because they’re a little afraid of using them. What herbs go with what food? How do you use them other than as a sprinkle to decorate a dish? When and how should they be added during cooking?

Once you have the answers to those questions, which I’m about to give you, you’ll find yourself reaching for that bundle of herbs more and more often, and throwing them out less and less.

Finding and buying fresh herbs

超市以各种方式包装新鲜草药：在小塑料盒中松动，用橡皮筋固定，有时仍然在锅中生长。无论包装如何，寻找具有鲜艳色彩和香气的草药（打开那些盒子以闻闻），避免那些lim弱或泛黄的草药，有黑点，或者闻起来不完全新鲜和开胃。我喜欢在可能的情况下购买田野种植的罗勒，欧芹，薄荷，香菜和莳萝 - 与温室种植一样，因为它们很香。您可以通过更大，更坚硬的茎和树叶来识别田野种植的草药。有些厨师更喜欢更嫩的温室草药，因为它们制作了可爱的精致装饰，并且可以直接从袋子里使用。

It’s worth exploring other sources for herbs, too, such as Middle Eastern, Latin, and Asian markets, which often carry herbs of higher quality and at lower prices than the supermarket.

Fragile herbs need TLC

Hardy herbs like rosemary, marjoram, and sage will stay green and fragrant for a week or two, as long as they’re refrigerated and don’t get wet. But tender herbs, such as basil, dill, cilantro, tarragon, and chervil, need special attention so they don’t blacken or freeze in the refrigerator.

为了保持最佳嫩草药，remove any rubber bands or fasteners. Because the roots draw the moisture from the leaves, it’s important to trim off the root ends and the lower parts of the stems to prevent the tops from wilting. If the roots are large and prominent, you can save them to flavor soups or stocks. (Southeast Asian cooks chop up cilantro roots along with the leaves, while Jewish cooks like to add parsley roots to chicken soup.)

To keep pesto bright and green,be sure your food processor blade is sharp so it cuts without crushing the ingredients (if not, bring it to a knife sharpener). Then add the ingredients in the proper order: fat first, herbs last. I start with the oil and then add the garlic and pine nuts, puréeing them completely. Finally, add the greens, processing them for as short a time as possible so they stay cool and maintain their color.

在香蒜酱中尝试其他草药（意大利语单词简称糊状）。用香菜，南瓜种子，大蒜和陈年的蒙特雷杰克或亚洲奶酪以及一些新鲜的绿色辣椒制作西南香蒜酱。在寒冷的天气中，我做一个鼠尾草，欧芹和胡桃木香蒜酱，搅拌成一碗丰盛的白豆汤。

Wrap the trimmed but unwashed herb bunches loosely in damp paper towels and put them in a heavy-duty zip-top bag filled with a little air, which cushions the herbs. Or even better, seal the towel-wrapped herbs neatly in a plastic container without crushing them. Store the herbs in the warmest part of the refrigerator, which is often the top shelf. Check the herbs daily, using those that look the least perky and discarding any that have begun to spoil.

Freezing fresh herbs generally turns them black and slimy, but if you protect them with a fat, by making a pesto (without the cheese) or an herb butter, for example, they’ll be fine.

Wash herbs only when you’re ready to use them,because excess moisture shortens their shelf life in the refrigerator. If I can get away without washing them at all, I do. Greenhouse herbs will be cleaner than field-grown and may not need washing. But if the herbs look or feel sandy, I wash them no matter their origin.

要清洗草药，将它们放入一大碗凉水中，然后将它们散发出来以释放砂砾。用手，筛子或撇渣器将草药从水中抬出水。如果您在碗的底部看到很多砂砾，请再次在一碗水中再次清洗草药。将它们干燥在沙拉旋转器中，或用干净的毛巾将它们卷起来，然后轻轻地将它们擦干。

Chop with a sharp knife or snip with scissors

A sharp knife is imperative for chopping herbs. A dull one will crush and bruise tender leaves, giving you blackened rather than green results. I use scissors to snip off small amounts of tender herbs, especially chives, whose stringy fibers are difficult to cut cleanly with a knife.

草药越嫩，就越接近烹饪时间，就需要切碎它。如果您提前切碎，请用一些空气孔刺穿的保鲜膜盖住草药，然后冷藏它们。您可以将剩下的切碎的草药保存一天左右，但是在使用之前，尤其是欧芹，香菜，罗勒和莳萝之前嗅探它们，切碎时会非常腐烂。

Whether you add the herb whole or chopped, or at the start of cooking rather than at the end, depends on both the herb and the effect you want.

If you want the herb to contribute a rounded background flavor, add a sprig at the beginning of cooking.Strong, resinous herbs like marjoram, thyme, and savory do best when allowed to mellow during the cooking process. To gently release the flavor oils of an herb in a slow-cooking sauce, soup, or stew, lightly crush the sprig before adding it to the liquid. Leaving the leaves on the stem makes it easy to remove the whole herb later.

For a more forthright herb flavor, chop the herb and add it near the end of cooking.辛辣的,确确实实碎cilantr的香气o seems to dissipate quickly, so I stir it in directly after cooking, which also helps it to retain its bright green color. Sometimes you’ll want to emphasize an herb’s flavor by adding it both before and after cooking. For my marinara sauce, I add whole sprigs of basil at the start, and then I liven up the basil flavor by adding finely shredded leaves just before taking the sauce off the heat.

利用整个草药

当食谱只需要草药植物的一部分时，我提出了保留遗体以供另一种用途。如果您不确定哪种食物可以使用哪种食物，请参阅草药和食物搭配对于一些悠久的组合。

节省tender stems for stocks and woody ones for the grill.Add tender herb stems in small quantities for a mild foundation flavor in chicken stock or fish fumet. Don’t get carried away, especially with herbs that contain a lot of chlorophyll (the green coloring) like parsley, cilantro, and dill. Woody stems of strong, resinous herbs can be used instead of wood chips on the grill. Try hot-smoking (cooking slowly in a covered grill so the smoke penetrates the food) a New York sirloin strip steak over thick rosemary stems, as I used to in my restaurant days. Stems from thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, and savory all work well.

Deep-fry herb leaves for an elegant, crunchy garnish.Fried flat-leaf or curly parsley is a classic partner for fried fish and seafood. I garnish crab cakes served over a fresh tomato sauce with crispy and tasty fried lovage leaves. Whole sage leaves dipped in a simple Italian flour and water batter, called a pastella, and then fried in olive oil, are a traditional complement to fritto misto (batter-fried meat, seafood, and vegetables).

Search out herb blossoms in season.Especially delicious are lavender-blue chive blossoms, petals separated and sprinkled on a cold vichyssoise. Sweetly perfumed blue-violet sage and borage blossoms make a seasonal salad garnish. Other blossoms, like tiny white thyme, lavender-blue summer savory, and purple rosemary, taste wonderful mixed with chives and browned butter and then tossed with fresh pasta; sprinkle with grated Parmesan or crumbled fresh goat cheese. I don’t like basil or marjoram blossoms as they tend to be bitter, and the pretty white blossoms of Chinese or garlic chives are too tough to eat.