Dill – Anethum graveolens – is an under rated herb. It’s seed has a quite strong ‘pungent’ flavour and imparts it best into creamy sauces. It is of course also excellent for a quick pickled curcubit or other esculents with some vinegar. It is most widely known in northern european cuisines and for a partner with fish or other seafood.
Both the seed and the leaf are excellent for eating and flavouring.
It makes for an excellent addition to bread or bread rolls like with caraway etc. It can add a really interesting savoury flavour to a simple flat bread – especially if you use a flour/yeast/milk/yoghurt combo recipe.
Usually it grows fairly easily in most soil types and climates, but it prefers a nice hot sunny summer to ripen up the seed heads.
It usually grows to about 50-60cm high and then the flower heads reach up to a metre or more.
To collect the seed simply trim the entire seed head when starting to dry out and drop into a paper bag and sit in warm dry spot. This may need to be done over a few weeks or so as the various flower heads ripen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dill
I also grow dill in amongst other herbs and vegetables as a pollinator attractor. Here you can see flowering and seeding heads in between Tomatoes and Nasturtium (Tropaeolum sp.).
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A simple easy tasty creamy dill sauce:
- Add equal parts of stock (beef, vegetable or chicken), flour, butter and fresh cream in a pot.
- Add a good sized Sprinkle of Dill seed (can be slightly crushed and more is better to infuse a full flavour).
- Heat and stir till blended and integrated – takes about 5 minutes max.
- Remove from heat and leave to sit for about 2-3 mins.
- Pour through a mesh sieve to remove all lumps and seed.
This is excellent used on large sized pasta or with meatballs that have a good amount of fresh origano, thyme and basil added.
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