subject: The Goods And Bads Of Fresh Or Dried Herbs [print this page] When it comes to herbs, in our humblest opinion is fresh always the best. The most important reason why that is your dish will have that extra zing and freshness flavor. Mind you, using dried herbs is not bad, but fresh always tops things better.
Here's an interesting fact between dried herbs and fresh herbs: the dried herbs are more concentrated, you will actually have to us less herbs than the fresh ones. The approximate ratio is 3:1. The biggest reason why is that natural herbs are somewhat watered down, because of the freshness, whereas dried herbs, through the process of drying them, lose the water aspect. This is what makes the dried herb stronger.
It is true though, that even though fresh herbs will give any dish that fresh flavor, and it is a lot more work. Whenever anybody buys fresh herbs, one should look out for the greener the better and fresher. Think of it like buying a bunch of cut flowers. The longer they stay on the self they begin to wilt, and lose their petals.
It is the same with fresh herbs. The brighter the herb, and the stronger the smell, the better pick it is. As time goes by both the color and the look of the herb will not be as fresh.
Once you bring the fresh herb, it is very important to thoroughly wash it with cold water. This is especially true with very leafy herbs such as parsley. In any event, all fresh herbs or any other fresh produce should be washed before use, or even if you plan to store it. This way you can wash all the pesticides, dust, dirt and other little things that may nest within the leaves.
Now here's an interesting suggestion and actually is a fact that many people may not know: that adding fresh herbs towards the end of the cooking is actually better. Because of the freshness of the herbs, you will lose a lot of the wonderful natural flavors if it is cooked too long.
If you need to season the dish for longer, then consider the use of dried herbs to let it set into the food. It is funny how things work. Because during the process of drying of the herbs, these dried herbs need more time to reabsorb moisture and then its flavors will come out. By contrast, fresh herbs have it all ready to go, so that extra time cooking will lessen the herb's strength or flavor. Hmm, this is real food for thought.
As it has been mentioned and recognized that not everybody has the option of growing their own fresh herbs. Sometimes people cannot be bothered to take the extra time to wash and chop up fresh herbs. Mixing fresh with dried herbs is often done even with the great chefs. Just be mindful that frsh herbs are less potent than dried herbs. It is very easy to either over season or under season the dish.
There are advantages and disadvantages of using fresh herbs, as we have observed. It is more work in preparing them and even storing them. The flavors of the herbs should be added towards the end of cooking, in order to not lose the beautiful flavors of the herb and the lifetime of the fresh herb should be considered only for a few days, unless you decide to freeze it.
If you opt to freeze it, make sure that once you have chopped the herb dry it as best as possible and store it in an air-tight freezer bag. This will preserved the herb the best and the next time you decide to use it, it may not have that extra fresh taste, but darned near close to it.
The biggest disadvantage of using fresh herbs is time. One has to put in time in choosing the fresh herb and then preparing it before use. The other disadvantage of fresh herbs is that it really should be added towards the end of cooking, or the original flavor may not be as potent as before.
There really is no right and wrong in this situation. Renowned chefs, and seasoned cooks will swear to only use fresh herbs in cooking, but the reality of it is that not everybody has the time to find or grow the herbs. It is certainly true that even with one fresh herb in the dish makes the difference in the end result. It really adds a homey quality in the meal when one uses even a single fresh herb.
