What’s your ‘desert island’ herb?
Some ideas for keeping things fresh and using up autumn’s bounty
With little but brassicas still thriving in the garden and frost warnings putting gardeners across Toronto on edge, it’s time to haul in all the tender herbs. Soon it will be pesto-city and that’s the basil taken care of, but what about all the other flavourful greens too good to waste?
Executive chef Jason Bangerter, is mad about herbs, and he is blessed with a culinary garden of delights. Just outside his kitchen at Langdon Hall Country House Hotel and Spa, near Cambridge, Ont., the chef can stroll through his gardens picking and plucking any number of tasty, super fresh things. “I have fallen in love with, not only herbs, but their beautiful, delicious flowers as well,” says Bangerter. “Three of my absolute favourite and reoccurring obsessions have been with bronze fennel, chive blossom and gem marigold.”
Langdon Hall’s gardening team use marigolds as a natural pest control in the garden. “It’s citrusy sweet and reminds me of candy, think: orange or tangerine, flavoured gummy bears! I use the vibrant yellow and orange flowers as well as the plant’s leafy greens in many ways: in sugar and salt cures and marinades for vegetable, fish and seafood dishes; to flavour teas, cakes, cookies, creams, vinaigrettes and stocks; in both savoury and sweet recipes; or simply tossed fresh from the garden into salads or as garnish for a dish that benefits from the fresh citrus flavour of the plant.”
“At the end of the season we transplant some of our marigolds to the greenhouse to keep them going through the winter and any remaining plants I often make preserves with — marigold jam; infused sugar and oil, cures and syrups — so that none of the plants go to waste and to give us some of that summer fresh citrus flavour throughout the colder months.”
For extra inspiration, we asked five chefs for their “desert island herb” and favourite way to use it. Executive chef and owner of Colibri, Elia Herrera —
From Cordoba in Veracruz, Mexico, Herrera recreates the traditional recipes passed down to her from her mother and grandmother at her Mexican restaurant. Herbs are a vital part of the finished product. Her choice came down to two favourite herbs. “Well, if I’m alone on a desert island, weed! It will help with imagination, I can cook with it and it’s more fun. But, seriously, cilantro. I can’t live without it. I use it to add freshness and some citric notes to any preparation: tacos, salsas, grain salads, dressings and carnitas.”
Pastry chef Kyla Eaglesham
Kennaley— The celebrity chef has recently moved to London, England, but spends several weeks of the summer at the Canadian Film Centre in north Toronto, shooting CBC’s “The Great Canadian Baking Show,” where she’s a judge. When it comes to a favourite herb, she honours her grandma and her Polish roots through an unwavering love of dill. “Unfortunately I never met my mom's mother, but she was also a cook and apparently a great baker. I have many memories of my own mother cooking with dill and my favourite comfort food is mushrooms and dilled sour cream on toast. My mom also made great Polish dill pickles, so I guess I would open a small cannery on my deserted island in her honour.”
For chef Kyla Eaglesham Kennaley, dill is a go-to herb for her dishes. Chef and entrepreneur,
Grant van Gameren — He’s busy with Bar Raval and Bar Isobel, but gave some time and thought to this agonizing choice. “Well lovage is one of my favourite herbs, but I’m wondering if I’d choose that if I was stranded on an island. Let’s go with cilantro, it makes everything taste better, and it’s similar to lovage. Dill would be nice too, but I feel like I’d get sick of it quicker, and basil is the easiest choice, but I like more of a challenge. Final answer, cilantro! I love chopping it up fine and using it as a flavouring in a salad, or finishing a stew or soup with it; I feel like I would make a lot of soups and fresh fruit salads with it on an island.”
Chef Christine Cushing — From her ground-breaking
show, “CC Live,” to her popular YouTube channel, “My Favourite Foods,” to judging Food Network Canada’s “Wall of Chefs,” Cushing never had to choose just one herb to cook with, until now.
“My choice for desert island herb is tough, but I have to go with Greek oregano. I use it on roast chicken potatoes, grilled veggies, meat sauces and just sprinkled on feta and tomatoes — basically on everything. It’s in my DNA and I would have it in jars stashed all around the island. The earthy, intense aroma is so addictive!”
Chef Jagger Gordon — He’s probably best known for his non-profit organization, Feed it Forward, where the community-minded chef is on a mission to rescue and divert perfectly
good, healthy food collected from stores, caterers, manufacturers and get it to those who need it most. But, he’s also the owner of Jagger Gordon Catering and the new executive chef at Blazing Kitchen/Rancho Relaxo. “Cilantro would be my chosen herb to live with,” says Gordon.
“My life is continuously revolving around cilantro. Much of my culinary art is flavoured by the experiences I’ve had around the world, in places where cilantro and its seeds, coriander, are featured. I believe in feeding Canadians and not landfills and utilizing as much as possible from what Mother Earth offers. Coriander/cilantro is one of the only herbs in the world that you can eat from root to seed.”