She's the British herb gardener who has just written a book devoted to culinary herbs, many of them little-known or forgotten. In Jekka's Herb Cookbook (Firefly Books, 2011), McVicar lovingly describes her favourite 50, among them bergamot and borage, hyssop, catnip and purslane, all stunningly illustrated by her daughter Hannah McVicar, and offers recipes for putting them to use in the kitchen.
Here's a glossary of some lesserknown herbs - and a few new varieties of old favourites - that are making an appearance at Montreal market stalls and on nursery trays this gardening season:
African Blue Basil
The everyday green cultivar looks downright dowdy compared with this basil with spiky purple flowers and intensely scented mauve-tinged leaves. Unlike most basil, which is bland and tasteless when dried, African blue basil retains its flavour when hung to dry, crumbled and stored in airtight jars for winter use.
Like all basils, it prefers rich soil and a hot, sunny spot.
Great in Asian dishes or salads and sandwiches.
Angelica
Allowed to go to flower, angelica, with its large round clusters of white blossoms, is a stunner in the garden, growing to more than 2.5 metres tall. With a sweet honey scent and subtle anise flavour, the leaves are added to drinks or stewed with rhubarb to balance its tartness. Angelica is one of the main ingredients in gin.
Too tall for containers, it is best planted at the back of a garden bed, and might need staking.
Bay
For cooks accustomed to dried bay leaves, a potted bay bush on the balcony or the patio is a delight. This compact Mediterranean shrub boasts dark pointy leaves that are glossy on top and matte underneath. Their flavour is intensely aromatic, adding depth to meats and stews or ground into spice blends. Add the whole fresh leaves at the beginning of cooking, so the flavours slowly permeate the food, then remove before serving.
Although bay is an evergreen, it is too tender to withstand our climate. Grow outdoors in a sunny spot, in a generous pot with good drainage, and take inside for winter.
Pick the leaves all year round and use fresh, or dry for future use.
Borage
Its star-shaped flowers are bright electric blue, with hairy buds and stem and a mild fragrance. Borage grows to 45 centimetres high and is happy in light, well-drained soil.
In drinks, the sweet-tasting leaves have a cucumber-like flavour. Great grandmothers preserved and candied the flowers.
Borage is considered a good companion plant in the garden, protecting spinach, brassicas and tomatoes from pests.
Calendula
Also known as pot marigold, calendula's bright orange and yellow flowers make exquisite summer bouquets. The flowers are nice in salads and omelettes, and the leaves, too, are edible, if slightly bitter.
Calendula is a tolerant plant that will grow in poor soil, although it prefers a sunny location.
Dead-head the flowers to encourage continuous blooming. Best of all, it self-seeds.
Camomile
Not just for tea to help you sleep, the tiny daisy-like flowers and feathery leaves make lovely, exceptionally fragrant cut flowers. They are low-growing and compact. Dry the flowers and leaves for tea.
Curry
The curry plant, which grows to 45 centimetres tall, is an evergreen shrub native to southern Europe. It is a compact plant with yellow button flowers that makes an exotic addition to the herb garden. The leaves are highly aromatic. It should not be confused with the curry tree that grows in India; its leaves are much more intensely flavoured, and its fragrance is intensified if grown in a warm, sheltered location.
The curry plant's delicate silver foliage imparts subtle flavour to cooked dishes. Add fresh leaves to soups, curries and rice pilaf, discarding them before serving.
Epazote
They call it "Mexican tea." It is a common ingredient in Mexican cooking and the dried leaves are readily available in Mexican grocery stores, but the fresh leaves have a nicer flavour, pungent with a hint of lemon. Delicious added to chili dishes, moles and quesadillas.
Garlic Chive
A lot like ordinary chive, but with a nice garlicky flavour to both white flowers and green spears. Cut the leaves back to 5 centimetres from the ground to encourage new growth. Garlic chives are just as hard-working in the herb garden as regular chives.
They are hardy perennials that are among the first green shoots to appear in spring. The oniony-tasting spears have a slight taste of garlic, as do the diminutive globes of white flowers, which are also edible.
Great for snipping into omelettes, salads and marinades right through till fall.
Lemon Balm
A hardy perennial that tolerates drought. Like its cousin mint, it is invasive, so is best grown in an outof-the-way spot in the garden. In summer, it bursts into clusters of tiny white flowers that attract bees.
Its oval-toothed textured leaves are intensely lemon scented. Like lemon lollipops, some people say.
The ancient Romans used it to chase away melancholy.
Add the leaves and flowers, fresh or dried, to teas, jellies, salads.
Lemon Thyme
A tender perennial that can often tolerate Montreal winters. It is a low-growing woody plant with miniature variegated leaves that are intensely lemon-flavoured. It trails exquisitely from pots and window boxes, but also loosely edges garden paths. The lemon scent and flavour of the leaves makes it a fabulous addition in the kitchen. Lemon thyme never grows more than 15 centimetres tall. But it makes its presence felt with its fabulous fragrance and trailing habit. These are perfect plants for edging the herb garden or planted to cascade over the edges of a flower pot. Remarkably hardy, too. Lemon thyme will overwinter in all but the harshest winters.
Snip away all summer for soups, drinks, salads.
Moroccan Mint
North Africans say Moroccan mint is the best cultivar for making traditional Moroccan tea. Its intense flavour is superior to all other mint cultivars. Plant in rich soil and harvest leaves before blooming. Pinch off new blooms to promote leaf growth.
Excellent for tea, but also in salads, or with carrots and peas. Unbeatable in a mojito or mint julep.
Pineapple Sage
Ordinary sage can be an acquired taste. But pineapple sage is sweet and honey-tasting, with a mild pineapple scent. And its orange spiky flowers, which appear in early fall on long stems, are dramatic. A tender perennial that overwinters in mild winters. Trim the top of the plant to give pineapple sage a bushy shape.
Use the leaves and flowers in tisanes and iced tea.
Vietnamese Coriander
This is a prolific grower, much hardier than ordinary coriander. It grows to 50 centimetres tall, with long, purple-etched pointy leaves growing on a red stem. Its flavour is a cross between coriander and lemon. Or as herb grower McVicar describes it: "To begin with the taste is mild, with a hint of lime and spice, then as the flavour develops it becomes hot and peppery."
In Asia, it is eaten raw as a salad, but also heaped into bowls of Vietnamese pho soups.
