THE HERB GARDEN 36 



unfamiliar flavour ; when we get through the sugar 

 and come to the seed, We know what coriander 

 tastes like. Hyssop, a good-looking evergreen 

 aromatic shrub, besides all other virtues, is endowed 

 with the power of averting the Evil Eye. 



But however tempting it may be to wander 

 away among the labyrinths of herb lore, this is 

 no place for it. Far wiser and more practical it 

 is to read what a great authority (A. Kenny 

 Herbert) in culinary matters has been saying 

 lately about the disuse of kitchen herbs. " Con- 

 tinuing the custom handed down from olden 

 times, our cooks," he says, "still use mint with 

 lamb, green peas and new potatoes ; thyme and 

 marjoram in stuffing for veal and hares ; sage with 

 ducks, geese, and pork, and fennel with mackerel. 

 Specialists, too, in the preparation of turtle-soup, 

 recognise the value of sweet basil in their flavour- 

 ing. But in few kitchens is summer savoury 

 (sarriette) used with broad beans, basil in cooking 

 tomatoes, rosemary in seasoning poultry, purslane 

 as a garnish for vegetable soups, chervil in salads 

 and fish sauces ; or ravigote, a blend of many herbs, 

 for a like purpose." 



It really seems as if in the matter of herbs and 

 their uses a little going backwards would forward 



