Herb pairing basics

Over 13,000 recipes in the EYB Library have “herbs of your choice” as an ingredient. When you see that in the ingredient list, do you have a set of herbs in mind or do you struggle to determine what herbs would be best? If you are in the latter group, head over to Samin Nosrat‘s Substack, because she just posted about what to do when “use whatever herbs” pops up in a recipe.

Samin focuses on soft herbs in her post, meaning those that do not have a woody stem. Think parsley and cilantro/coriander, not thyme or rosemary. She cautions about going overboard and adding as many herbs as possible. Generally, Samin believes that two or three is going to be better than a kitchen sink approach. If you want to play it safe, she advises to use parsley or cilantro as the main herb since they are common in so many different cuisines.

While most soft herbs will play well with others, Samin does caution against one particular combination – cilantro and tarragon do not go well together, she says. After offering several tips, Samin posts some of her favorite combinations. In addition, she links to Justine Doiron’s method to make a “shockingly verdant” oil with the herbs, and includes her own herb mayonnaise recipe (from Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat).