Dried herbs can be flavor powerhouses - Oklahoman.com

By Becky Krystal, The Washington Post

Published: Wed, March 25, 2020 5:00 AM

Dried herbs are more potent than fresh. If you're swapping dried for fresh, the guidance varies, often anywhere from a quarter to half of the amount of fresh. [Tom McCorkle/for The Washington Post]

Dried herbs have a tendency to collect dust in the pantry. You buy a jar of them, use a little and then forget about them or just dip into them occasionally. But now that home cooks are turning more to their cabinets out of necessity, it's time to take a closer look at those dried herbs.

Jekka McVicar, who runs an herb farm in England and has written seven books on the topic, says that for better or worse, culinary authorities have been successful in indoctrinating us that fresher is better. "I know people think fresh is best," she says, but "with the situation we're all going to be in, dried is going to be essential."

Here are some things to keep in mind once you start pulling out those jars.

• The right amount. Dried herbs are more potent than fresh. As McVicar explains, you're shrinking and dehydrating the leaves, which intensifies the flavor and gives you more herb per teaspoon than fresh. If you're swapping dried for fresh, the guidance varies, often anywhere from a quarter to half of the amount of fresh. McVicar, herb lover that she is, leans more toward half. If you're unsure, start with a smaller amount and add more as you see fit. "It's much easier to destroy a meal with a dried herb than a fresh herb," she says.

Angel Gregorio, owner of the SpiceSuite in Washington, takes a slightly different view. "I am a person who does not believe in rules," she says. Use whatever amount you think works best. That may depend on how old the herbs are, so take a whiff. "Smell is your best sense," Gregorio says. "That will help guide you when you're going through your pantry."

She does caution against going overboard on mint, though. "It's almost like salt. Too much of it can overwhelm a dish."

• Where they really shine. "Dried herbs need heat, moisture and about twice as much cooking time to develop full flavor," cookbook author and culinary instructor Andrew Schloss wrote in The Washington Post back in 1995. "That is why dried herbs are preferred in long-cooking dishes. By the time an old-style pasta sauce is done simmering, the dried herbs in it will have peaked and mellowed in flavor, whereas the potency of the same herb fresh would have been spent long before." So consider dried herbs as MVPs in sauces, soups and stews. McVicar thinks dried sage works especially well in meatloaf. To maximize flavor, crush the dried leaves between your fingers before adding them to a recipe.

• Other uses. If you're making your own vinaigrette, toss in a pinch of dried herbs. For a Greek-inspired chickpea salad I like to make, I always include oregano in the vinegar-forward dressing. McVicar is a fan of dried basil in vinaigrette.

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