CHRISTMAS HERBS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 230, 17 December 1927, Page 26 (Supplement)

CHRISTMAS HERBS

METHOD OF HARVESTING The harvesting of the various herbs for winter use is work that may need to be attended to now. The actual harvesting season varies according to locality and the nature of the season hut can be determined upon in individual cases by remembering that the leaves are most full of flavour just before the first flowers are ready to open: that, therefore, is the time when they should be cut. Cutting should be done with a sharp knife, preferably on a dry and sunny day, a good length of stalk being taken with them. They need to be tied up in medium-sized bundles, with as little delay as possible. If the bundles are too large, their bulk will prevent rapid and thorough drying. Some herbs, of course, contain much more moisture than others and these should be bunched in proportionately smaller bundles. Mint, for example, is far more sappy than thyme and consequently takes more drying. DRYING HERBS It Is a common mistake to dry herbs by spreading them out on a sheet of paper in full sunlight. Such rapid drying parches out the oils that contain the flavour. Herbs that have been dried in this way are only half as good as those that have been dried slowly in a coel. shady place. The right plan is to hang up the bunches, head downwards, in a dry, warm current of air where the sun does not reach them and where they can be protected from dust, leaving them thus until each leaf Is crisp and brittle. Then the leaves may be easily rubbed from the stalks. If the bunches have to be left for a time after they have dried and have become damp to the touch —as they may do if the atmosphere chances to be moist —they should be allowed to get brittle again before the leaves are rubbed from the stalks. STORING HERBS Once thoroughly dry. pains must be taken with the storage or the herbs will rapidly deteriorate. The first point of course, is to keep them dry and this is best ensured by using either air-tighe bottles or tins previously dried thoroughly. Before packing is done, it is necessary to make sure that drying is complete and no particle of moisture is left. Neglect of this will result in loss of both flavour and colour; while, if much moisture is present (either from imperfect drying or as a result of them reabsorbing moisture from the atmosphere) fermentation is very likely to set up and the whole store will become useless.