Product Description
PURPOSE
WHAT IS IT?
Herbes de Provençe, like all spice blends, varies a lot, even within Provençe, in Southeastern France, its namesake. Regions, and families, have their own special variations. The French version, and the North American one, differ a lot.
The blend will incorporate several of these:
- A mellow mint family member:
- A bolder herb(s):
- A rounding/support herb:
- Lovage;
- Fennel seed;
- Summer savory;
- Sage;
- Bay leaf.
- If you’re from North America, or French, and just enjoy the scornful looks, and haughty disdain, that will be heaped upon you for adding it to your blend, then you can use some culinary lavender.
The goal is to affect the senses, which, as one of the most popular herb/herb-and-floral blends in the world, it seems to get past the culinary goaltender.
EXPERIENCE
The aroma of the blend usually combines the woodsy, floral, and core herbals in a way that works magic on everything from vegetables, to eggs, and . Add the spice at the beginning of cooking for any slow cooking recipes, or quickly add to a bit of cooking oil before sautéing so that the essential oils can properly release.
CULINARY GEOGRAPHY
As the name, Herbes de Provençe, implies, it is a French blend. There is no regional appellation, no official control of the name. These days, the majority of these blends come from Central, or Eastern Europe, North Africa, China, and the United States.
TRADITIONAL USES
- Roast Chicken (Poulet Rôti) Herbes de Provence is rubbed with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper onto whole chickens or chicken pieces before roasting. The blend perfumes the skin and drippings, creating a fragrant, herb-forward roast typical of Provençal home cooking.
- Grilled Lamb The herb mix is commonly used on lamb chops or leg of lamb with garlic, olive oil, and lemon. The rosemary-thyme profile complements lamb’s richness and is traditional in southern French countryside grilling.
- Ratatouille A vegetable stew of eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, and peppers often finished with Herbes de Provence. The blend reinforces the herbaceous flavor base typical of Provençal vegetable dishes.
- Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables Zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers are tossed with olive oil and Herbes de Provence before roasting or grilling. This is a common side dish across southern France and coastal Mediterranean cooking.
IMPROVISATIONAL ‘RIFFS’
- Provençal Grilled Cheese Gruyère or Comté grilled cheese with Herbes de Provence butter spread on the outside of the bread.
- Herbes de Provence Popcorn Toss hot popcorn with butter, Herbes de Provence, flaky sea salt, and a little grated Parmesan.
- . Provençal Compound Butter Blend softened butter with Herbes de Provence, garlic, lemon zest, and shallot. Melt over steak, fish, or grilled corn.
HEALTH WARNING
An ingredient in many North American variants of Herbes de Provence is lavender. It’s not toxic, BUT please do not harvest fresh lavender from your garden unless you are:
- Well trained enough to identify English lavender (l. angustifolia and munstead). Other non-culinary, decorative species may be more bitter.
- Are certain that your lavender has not been sprayed with common yard pesticides or is in range of a lawn being maintained with chemical fertilizers and/or pesticides. You can ingest poisons from the yard in the lavender.
THE BACKSTORY
Originally concocted as a meat rub, and a means of infusing cooking fats with flavor, the use of Herbes de Provence begins somewhere in the early 20th century.
While it would seem that this would be one of those flavor profiles discovered by monks in a 13th century abbey, the first real mention of Herbes de Provençe comes in Jean-Baptiste Reboul’s 1910 compendium of Provençal cooking. Reboul did not “invent” the blend. He merely documented a common usage of a set of spices.
Those typically might be put together, and sold, by small growers, often in grey jars with cork lids, as fresh, that slowly dried out over time.
The first mass market commercialization of Herbes de Provence was by French spice maker Ducros, in the 1970’s, for export to North America.
That demand was probably inspired by famed American chef, culinary author, and TV personality Julia Child’s debut of Herbes de Provençe in North America via her book, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” which was first published in 1961. Her rise to fame as one of the first great television chefs was at it’s peak by the early 1970’s.
AKA
- Erba di Pruvenza
- Ervas da Provença
- Herbes de Provença
- Herbes de Provence
- Herbes de Provençe
- Herbes de Provenza
- Herbes က de Provence
- Herbo de Provenco
- Herbs de Provence
- Hierbas de Provenza
- ʻO Herbes de Provence
- IHerbes de Provence
- Kräuter der Provence
- Provençal Herbes
- UHerbes de Provence
- zioła prowansalskie
- Герб де Прованс.
- Герб дэ Праванс
- Гербес де Прованс
- Прованские травы
- Хербес де Прованс
- Хербес де Провенце
- Хербс де Прованса
- ჰერბეს დე პროვანსი
- הערבעס דע פּראָווענסע
- הרבס דה פרובנס
- اعشاب دي بروفانس
- جڑی بوٹیوں ڈی پروینس
- هربس دو پروونس
- هربيس ڊي پرونسس
- هیبیس دی پروینس
- औषधी वनस्पती डे प्रोव्हन्स
- जडिबुटी डे प्रोभेन्स
- स्थानीय वनस्पतियां
- হার্বস ডি প্রোভেন্স
- ਹਰਬੀਜ਼ ਡੀ ਪ੍ਰੋਵੈਂਸ
- હર્બ્સ દ પ્રોવેન્સ
- ஹெர்பெஸ் டி புரோவென்ஸ்.
- హెర్బ్స్ డి ప్రోవెన్స్.
- ಹರ್ಬ್ಸ್ ಡಿ ಪ್ರೊವೆನ್ಸ್
- ഹെർബസ് ഡി പ്രോവെൻസ്
- හර්බ්ස් ඩි ප්රොවෙන්ස්
- เฮอร์บส์เดอโพรวองซ์
- ហឺប៊ឺសដឺប្រេនសិន
- エルブドプロヴァンス
- 埃尔韦斯普罗旺斯
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