Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with herb

Identify this herb/spice!

lisawin — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 22:36:42 -0800

Please help identify this herb/spice! one, two

As you can see in the pictures, it's sort of... soft? Fluffy? The smell isn't sweet or spicy, just... different. And sort of strong, too. It just sort of looks (but doesn't smell) like potpourri, but it was given as a gift with a few other herbs/spices/seeds, so I'm going to go ahead and assume that this is (supposed to be) edible, too.

Furthermore, how do I cook with this, and what can I do with it?

What's this herb? I'm floundering.

maudlin — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:59:40 -0800

It's green, it grows, it tastes like fish. What is it and what can I do with it? I was picking up choi and herbs at a Chinese green grocers a couple of days ago, and I was offered this plant to try. The owner couldn't tell me what its English name was, and I forgot to ask what the herb is typically used for, so here I am.

The plant smells faintly of fish, and definitely tastes like a combination of mild whitefish and generic greenstuff. I was thinking it would go well in any recipe where I would use fish sauce, but if you have any other ideas, or if this is more of a medicinal herb than a cooking herb, let me know.

What are a few strange or exotic vegetables/herbs/fruit that I can plant in my new garden?

ShootTheMoon — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:50:51 -0800

Just shoveled out a new garden 2 weeks ago. Put some tomatoes and peppers seedlings in, and already have some baby pepper and tomato plant is flowering well. Looking for strange or exotic veggies or herbs I can put into the remaining space. This east facing plot probably gets 4-6 hours of direct sun (more once we get further into summer). I live coastal in San Diego, so it would be zone 10. It also never get's hotter than 90F, and never below 32F. Very dry, so low water plants are a plus, but I dont mind watering a small area often. I have no preference starting from seed or seedling, so either one works.

What is this mysterious plant from Thailand called?

watercarrier — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 09:09:53 -0800

What plant did my Thai neighbor just give me? My Thai neighbor who speaks very little English, gave me a plant that he said was called - T'Kai (I think). It looks like the top of a long dried out garlic plant with a sort of thinnish bulb that smells a lot like ginger. He gave it to me as a remedy for a cold. What is this plant?

How to remove wax from plant material?

captain cosine — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:25:32 -0800

Many questions have been asked about removing wax from carpet, but what about from...plant material. I accidentally dropped some...oregano...into the wax puddle of a burning candle. surprisinly valuable, expensive oregano. After removing the chunk of herb from the puddle, the wax hardened around it. Is there any way to dissolve/dissipate/remove the wax without harming my plant material?

Dill recipes?

Morrigan — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:39:56 -0800

We have LOTS of dill coming up. Can anyone provide any not-too-difficult recipes to take advantage of this situation? I'm especially looking for some sort of dill cream sauce to serve with fettucini but all ideas are appreciated.

What am I smoking?

mzurer — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:45:17 -0800

What herb am I growing? Here's the wide view, the buds, and the leaves. I was told it's oregano, but now I am not so sure. It smells good, and oregano-ish, but maybe a little more minty than I normally think of for oregano. The flowers that are popping out are whitish, but maybe if I let them go a little longer they would have more color.

Help me build a raised herb garden bed

blastrid — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:57:25 -0800

Help me construct a 3' tall raised herb garden in my backyard. Materials? Subtrate Levels? We have a boxer puppy that loves chewing on plants and sticks. We want to build an herb garden with basil, oregano, chives, and maybe one or two more.

I'd like to build a raised garden bed about 3' high and maybe 5' wide x 3' deep, against the back cinder block wall with Castlewall brick. Do I need to use rebar to stabilize the brick wall so it doesn't expand? Do I therefore need to find bricks with holes in the middle or is there another strategy? Should I be using a cedar wall construction instead as seen here? What sort of substrate levels should I use so the soil can drain properly and not rot? Do I need to put something like river rock as the bottom layer? I'm also thinking of a cosmetic touch: lining the side walls with a reed fence.

Are there any other potential issues I'm overlooking? I have minimal construction/gardnening skills (first spring in my first house!), so be layman, please.

Suggestions for veggies I can grow on a deck or inside?

Rosie M. Banks — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:02:53 -0800

I'd love to grow some vegetables this year. However, I don't have much in the way of outdoor space OR sunlight. What are my best bets? I live in a condo. I have a deck, but it doesn't get much sun. I do have some space inside, but not much, and nothing with oodles of sun - it's not dark at all, but I don't get tons of direct sunlight; most of my windows face east or north.

So what are my best bets for growing my own vegetables? I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area (East Bay); frost/snow is not an issue but summer heat can be. I need something that will happily grow in a container and in at least partial shade. Or, alternatively, one of those "Aero-Garden" indoor planters; my mom is growing cherry tomatoes in one of those now, but they've yet to ripen. Anyone grow vegetables or herbs indoors? I'd at least like to get a pot or two of basil going for homemade pesto!

Hot rabbit recipe

tellurian — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 01:15:00 -0800

A chilli rabbit recipe from a 'Hemphills Herbs and Spices' book. I once had a recipe book that was essentially a promotional tool for 'Hemphills Herbs and Spices' (an Australian herb and spice purveyor, natch). A4 size, paperback, and (from memory) had a picture of Ian and his mother, Rosemary, standing in front of hedge with an armful of herbs - it was a very green picture. It had a recipe for cooking rabbit with the main ingredients being chilli*, garlic and tomato. The recipe I'm seeking DOES NOT CONTAIN BEANS. Does anyone have this book and is willing to share the recipe? Or, if not this exact recipe, one that DOES NOT CONTAIN BEANS but has chilli, garlic and tomato as the main ingredients.
*I fear my search has been severely hampered by the variants in the spelling of chilli, chili and chile.

Can you be my herb doctor?

lpctstr; — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:12:23 -0800

What happened to my little herb garden? They were growing really well [1] [2] [3] [4] (just-watered), and then they've sort of died off [5] [6] [7] [8]. I've been growing them under my oven light. Can you help me figure out what went wrong and if I can save my herbies?

Is buying Marijuana seeds legal in Canada?

stungeye — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:56:08 -0800

DoobieFilter: Is buying Marijuana seeds legal in Canada?

windowsill herb garden

adrober — Fri, 05 May 2006 08:01:24 -0800

I live in a New York apartment and I like to cook. When I go to the farmer's market, I'm always tempted to buy herbs in little pots and put them in my window. Questions: (1) If I buy herbs in little pots and put them in my window, how long will they last? (2) How often do you water? (3) If I want to use them for cooking, do I just snip them off and use them and if I do (4) do the herbs grow back? Basically: how do I start a windowsill herb garden?

Rub-a-dub-dub

Smart Dalek — Sun, 05 Sep 2004 14:31:23 -0800

Rub-a-dub-dub: any unique ideas for herb/spice/marinate combos?
(Bird, beast, or fish, it could be any dish.)

Help identifying an empty German flask I found?

Smart Dalek — Mon, 12 Jan 2004 15:32:15 -0800

I'd like some help identifying an empty flask I found in a drawer.
It's from Germany, and bears the inscription "Herrenberger Blutwurzelansatz / Weinhaus Gläßer / Brennerei Herrenberg / Deutsches Erzeugnis".
The bottle is at least 10-12 years old, and doesn't mention any overseas distributor. Could it have held an herbal wine, or a liqueur?