Herbs and temperature
I have already talked to you about herbs in cooking, and about their great power of "seduction". The example of a salad is a great classic: on its own, it's a salad, which is normal, but the same salad in which you have added finely chopped fresh herbs, just before serving, you have much more than a salad.
Herbs transcend recipes, small addition and big effect, with just a little chives, chervil, parsley, etc.
Herbs transcend recipes, small addition and big effect, with just a little chives, chervil, parsley, etc.
11 K 4.8/5 (16 reviews)
Keywords for this post:HerbsCookingTemperatureLast modified on: April 25th 2020
Herbs and temperature
What if we heat it up? What about the herbs that we are going to consume after cooking (vs raw), it's a bit the same principle, we add them to a dish or a recipe, and they always make their little effect?
Well it depends in fact, it depends on the herb itself or more exactly its active principle, its essential oil if you prefer, and which must pass from the herb in the dish for our greatest happiness.
And there attention, all the herbs are not equal, because the active ingredient they contain supports more or less well the heat.
Here is a specific example, tarragon, its active ingredient is estragol and unfortunately estragol evaporates at 50°C (approximately) which means that if you put it in a dish that goes in the oven for a long time, well it's almost useless because the taste will have evaporated during cooking and in the best case there will just be traces of it. Disappointing...
It is a little less true for parsley which is less sensitive to heat, and can be cooked better.
Another way to do it is to combine the 2 methods: herbs at the beginning for more nuanced notes, and herbs at the end for fresher and more pronounced notes.
To sum up: For a recipe with herbs, and depending on the herbs, it is often better to incorporate the herbs at the end of cooking, chopped up at the minute.
Well it depends in fact, it depends on the herb itself or more exactly its active principle, its essential oil if you prefer, and which must pass from the herb in the dish for our greatest happiness.
And there attention, all the herbs are not equal, because the active ingredient they contain supports more or less well the heat.
Here is a specific example, tarragon, its active ingredient is estragol and unfortunately estragol evaporates at 50°C (approximately) which means that if you put it in a dish that goes in the oven for a long time, well it's almost useless because the taste will have evaporated during cooking and in the best case there will just be traces of it. Disappointing...
What to do?
All is not lost, it is enough to proceed differently, and to add the chosen herb at the last moment, the dish already taken out of the oven, and a few minutes before serving. This way you will have the expected taste, and in addition a certain freshness of taste due to the fresh herbs added. This is especially true for herbs that are very sensitive to heat: chives, tarragon and chervil in particular.It is a little less true for parsley which is less sensitive to heat, and can be cooked better.
Another way to do it is to combine the 2 methods: herbs at the beginning for more nuanced notes, and herbs at the end for fresher and more pronounced notes.
Does this apply to all herbs?
No, there are some that have an active principle with a very high evaporation temperature (like 250°C), but with those you can go ahead and let it simmer or infuse for a long time: bay leaf, thyme and vanilla for example.To sum up: For a recipe with herbs, and depending on the herbs, it is often better to incorporate the herbs at the end of cooking, chopped up at the minute.
Lasts posts
Oven height
When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.October 8th 20251,7965
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?September 3rd 20257,0393
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...August 26th 20256,5175
Cake moulds
When we make a cake, or a cake of the same rectangular shape, we usually take out our usual mould and tell ourselves that the recipe is anyway "for a cake", but is it really that simple?August 25th 20256,5985
Thinning out herbs
If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...August 8th 20254,7165
Other pages you may also like
Baking a cake at the right time
When you make a cake, which most likely contains butter, a cake for example, chances are that as soon as the batter is finished, you put it in the pan and bake it immediately. Classic, everyone does it like that, and then if, on top of that, you have a few kids around you who are getting...April 18th 202020 K4.5
Unmoulding cakes while hot
When you make a cake, pound cake or whatever (what bakers call a "travel cake" because it's easy to carry around) you've most likely made a batter, either by hand or in a food processor, which you then pour into a buttered pan. It's a classic, and I've already talked to you about 2 or 3 tips on...February 6th 202138 K4.6
No need to boil gelatin
Gelatin is a magical ingredient for making light, creamy, structured desserts, yet it's often misused in the kitchen. A common mistake in some recipes is the idea that it needs to be boiled for it to work properly, but this is a mistake indeed: gelatin melts at a much lower temperature, around...November 21th 20247,7925
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".April 25th 20254,9745
The art of the charlotte
In cooking, a charlotte is a delicious moulded dessert, with biscuits around the outside that have been soaked in a flavoured syrup, filled with a light cream or mousse. The charlotte is left to set in the fridge before being turned out and served in slices. It is very light and a lovely sweet...February 27th 201346 K4.3
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.