History of herbs

Long before humans began to cultivate their own crops, they hunted and foraged for food. Eventually they found that they could produce larger quantities of grain and vegetables through farming, but the plants that made their meals more interesting still grew in the rocky places that were unsuitable to cereal agriculture.

The plants that call ‘herbs’ continued to be hunted in the wild, - indeed in many parts of the world they still are. The legend tells that people learned about herbs by observing animals and how they reacted to various plants.

If eating a particular plant resulted in a certain behavior or physical change, such as lethargy, then it was thought the plants had caused its. It is also how poisonous plants were discovered.

60 000 years ago, Neanderthal man valued herbs as medicinal agents. The antiquity of the use of herbs can be deduced from oral traditions and legends transmitted by the shamans or medicine men or Eurosia and the Americas.

It seems probable that many of the flavoring herbs now in use were similarly employed before the erection of the pyramids and also that many then popular no longer appear in modern lists of esculents.

The Ebers Papyrus is the oldest written herbal known to exists, written about 1500 BC. It names more than one hundred and twenty-five pants with eight hundred and eleven prescriptions for salves, poultices, gargles, inhalations, enemas, suppositories, pills, liquid medicines and directions for fumigation.

In temperate regions, where most herbs have little pungency compared to those of Mediterranean or tropical climates, herbs added interest to an otherwise bland and monotonous diet, whether of cereals, roots or a little meat or fish.

Relying upon Biblical records alone, several herbs were highly esteemed prior to current era; in the gospels of Matthew and Luke reference is made to tithes of mint, anise, rue, cumin and other "herbs"; and, more than 700 years previously, Isaiah speaks of the sowing and threshing of cumin which, since the same passage (Isaiah xxviii, 25) also speaks of "fitches" (vetches), wheat, barley and "rie" (rye), seems then to have been a valued crop.

The Muslims, who arrived in eastern Asia in the 9th and 10th centuries, were probably responsible for the appearance of cloves in Zanzibar and Mombasa before the Portuguese arrived there, and would have contributed to the spread of Indonesians spices in the Middle East and Europe.

Later, specific plants that produced known effects were grown in monasteries and studied by both clergy and doctors.
History of herbs 

What are culinary herbs?

North America possesses an amazing variety of climates and terrains, which supported the evolution of a vast number of indigenous species.

It has been colonized by or received immigrants from, almost every culture in the world, leading to incredibly rich culinary traditions.

Culinary herbs have appealing aromatic or savory characteristics and make food tasty and flavorful.  In times past, herbs were mainstays in the kitchen because they easily could be grown by rich or poor, they vastly improved the flavor of wild game and earthy vegetables and some could even preserve certain food.

It may be said that sweet or culinary herbs are those annual, biennial or perennial plants whose green parts, tender roots or ripe seeds have an aromatic flavor and fragrance, due either to a volatile oil or to other chemically named substances peculiar to the individual species.

Because fresh herbs are inspiring, they will continue to sprout up in a variety of recipes and cooking styles. And because cooking is an ongoing, creative process, fresh herbs will continue to be enjoyed by a growing and eager audience.

Since many of them have pleasing odors they have been called sweet, and since they have been long used in cookery to add their characteristic flavors to soups, stews, dressings, sauces and salads, they are popularly called culinary.

This last designation is less happy than the former, since many other herbs, such as cabbage, spinach, kale, dandelion and collards are also culinary herbs. These vegetables are, however, probably more widely known as potherbs or greens.

To serve four people with a sauce, soup, stew or sauté, use about 2 teaspoons of minced fresh herbs. To reach the fullest aroma, rub the leaves between two hands, then minced them using a sharp knife or by snipping them with kitchen shears.’

Many herbs affect physiological processes, which is the basis for their medicinal properties.
What are culinary herbs?