Chapter 3 - Mediterranean aromatic herbs and their culinary use

Abstract

The Mediterranean region, including 24 countries at the crossroads of Europe, Africa, and Asia, has a strong culinary tradition shaped through the rich Mediterranean biological and cultural diversity. In this chapter, the variety of culinary aromatic herb species used in the region, their geographical distribution, morphology, essential oils, and culinary applications in Mediterranean countries are documented. The most commonly used aromatic herbs in Mediterranean cookery are parsley, mint, laurel, oregano, thyme, rosemary, coriander, dill, basil, tarragon, chives, sage, marjoram, fennel, and chervil, most of them members of the Lamiaceae and Apiaceae families. Mint, sage, pennyroyal, mountain tea, and several oregano and thyme species are popular herbal teas. Mint, basil, lavender, rosemary, and laurel are sometimes used to aromatize sweet-flavored dishes. Historical uses of culinary herbs in the Mediterranean (ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome) are also discussed. Besides their local culinary importance, Mediterranean aromatic herbs are also part of the international herb trade. Several to numerous botanical species with different essential oil characteristics (and thus different aroma, taste, and biological activity) underlie the commercial names oregano, thyme, mountain tea, mint, and sage. It is suggested that herbal products traded under these names are botanically identified and characterized about their main essential oil compounds so that quality standards are kept. Controlling overharvesting and systematizing the cultivation of wild-collected species will help prevent overexploitation of local plant resources.