One of my favorite classes to teach is CA 100 – Basic Cookery. This is one of the first classes that students take here at the Texas Culinary Academy. CA 100 is all about how to create professional-quality food that tastes good and serves as an introduction to the equipment, techniques, and skills necessary to be a successful chef.
My favorite week in CA 100 is what I call “All About Taste, Flavor, and Aroma”. During this week of classes I teach the building blocks of flavor. We start off with a day of learning the detailed techniques of sensory evaluation…how to map your palate, the definition of a taste, and how aroma and texture affect a food’s flavor. Then we move on to “the building blocks of flavor” and spend some time learning how cooking method impacts flavor and how to build flavors using herbs and spices.
On “herb day”, we spend time with dozens of herbs; learning their tastes, flavors, aromas, history, and some botanical details. We learn the best method of cooking and preserving each herb and in what dishes they play a starring or supporting role. To liven up the class, we also learn a bit of herb trivia!
Without giving too much away, I’d like to share some of my favorite bits of herb trivia with you. See what you know or take a wild guess, and then scroll down for the answers!
Miss Jane’s Herb Trivia
- What herb is the basic flavoring in Béarnaise Sauce?
- What song was made famous by the refrain, “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme”?
- What herb is used – in very large amounts – in Tabouli?
- What herb makes up bone of the main ingredients in Listerine Mouthwash (the old-fashioned orange-tinted flavor).
- What herb is the leaf of the laurel tree?
- What herb was cited by Ophelia, the suicidal young woman in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as representing memory?
- What herb is an ingredient in an authentic Mojito?
- What herb caused Don Quixote – most famously, in one of his outrageous adventures – to be thrown into a fit of vomiting?
- What herb is actually “wild marjoram”?
- What herb finishes the following quote by the late, great, famous American Chef James Beard: “I believe that if I ever had to practice cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough ___________ around.”
Answers to Herb Trivia:
- Tarragon. To make a classic Béarnaise, simmer minced shallots and chopped tarragon with some white wine vinegar, add the cooled reduction to the egg yolks before creating the emulsion, and finish the sauce with minced tarragon just before serving.
- “Scarborough Fair” by Simon and Garfunkel. Simon and Garfunkel released the song on their 1966album entitled “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme”. Two years later the song was featured in the soundtrack of the film The Graduate.
- Parsley, although mint is included as well. Tabouli, also spelled tabbouleh, is a middle eastern side dish made with cracked wheat, chopped tomatoes, garlic, lemon, olive oil, fresh mint and large amounts of minced parsley.
- Thyme. It might make old-fashioned Listerine easier to swallow (well, gargle with) if you realize that one of the main ingredients is thymol, made from oil of thyme.
- Bay Leaf. The Bay leaf is the leaf of the Laurel Tree, an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub native to the Mediterranean. Bay leaves were the source of the laurel wreath given as prizes in ancient Greece, which lead to the expression of “resting on one’s laurels.”
- Rosemary. In act IV, scene V of Shakespeare’s famous play, Hamlet, Ophelia says to Hamlet, “There's rosemary, that's for remembrance, pray you, love, remember.” The herb rosemary has traditionally been associated with remembrance, especially in the context of honoring loved ones who have passed away.
- Mint. The classic Mojito cocktail is made by combining lime juice, sugar, and mint leaves in a tall glass, muddling the mint, and topping off with crushed ice, rum, and soda.
- Rosemary. In chapter XVII of the first volume of Don Quixote, the famous Don attempts to whip up a batch of the healing tincture known as the Balm of Fierabras. The ingredients, according to legend, are oil, wine, salt, and rosemary. The balm sends Don Quixote into a fit of vomiting and unconsciousness, but when he wakes up from his trance he feels great!
- Oregano. Also called “the pizza herb”, Oregano is actually wild Marjoram. Oregano is similar to Marjoram but is not as sweet and has a stronger, more pungent flavor and aroma.
- Tarragon. Now, I am absolutely sure he meant this as a joke, but the famous American Chef James Beard is quoted as having once said, “I believe that if I ever had to practice cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough tarragon around.”
