Sweet Basil

Ocimum basilicum. Large, fleshy leaves, particularly popular in Italian dishes, such as pesto. Sweet basil combines well with tomatoes. To preserve the pure or bright green color of the leaves, do not chop with a knife, but tear by hand. Use leaves only.

Salad Burnet

Sanguisorba minor. Sprigs give a refreshing cucumber flavor to drinks, while leaves are used in salads and sandwiches.

Horseradish

Cochlearia armoracia. Freshly grated horseradish is used to give piquant flavor to spreads and sauces that accompany roast or boiled beef, fish, and chicken.

Curry Plant

Helichrysum angustifolium. Its leaves release a typical curry fragrance when lightly touched, making it it an aromatic addition to the garden. Use when cooking rice, soups, stews and veal, and in stuffing for game. Note a that the curry plat is not an ingredient in curry powder.

Lavender

Lavandula angustifolia. Use the fragrant flowers sparingly in cakes, biscuits, jellies and ice cream. Vinegar may be infused with the stalks and flower heads.

Angelica

Angelica archangelica. Leaf, stem and flower all have a sweet flavor. Use chopped leaves in salads and stewed fruits. The stem is candied and used in desserts and for decorating cakes. Seeds, stems and roots are used to flavor liqueurs, such as chartreuse, Benedictine and vermouth.

Marjoram

Origanum majorana. Use with meat, poultry, vegetable and egg dishes, in soups and sauces, pasta and rice dishes.

Tarragon

Artemisia dracunculus. Always look for French tarragon, which has a much more pronounced flavor than Russian tarragon. If Russian is all you can obtain, use more. Used in fines herbes blend, in bearnaise sauce, with fish, poultry, offal and egg dishes, and to infuse white wine vinegar.

Yarrow

Achillea millefolium. Used in mixed green salads.

Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare. Use the chopped, feathery leaves in salads, particularly potato salad, with fish, in pasta sauces and rice dishes. A whole fish can be baked on a bed of fennel branches.

Lemon Grass

Cymbopogon citratus. Popular in Asian dishes, this herb is slowly becoming mainstream. Use the bottom 4 inch of the stalks only. Remove tough outer layers and bruise the tender inside with the blunt side of a chef's knife, before chopping or slicing finely. Use the leaves to infuse the water in which fish or chicken is poached or steamed, in syrup for fruit compotes, or in custards when making creme brulee or creme caramel.

Sorrel

Rumex scutatus. Mainly used in soups, omelettes, sauces, served with cold fish and poultry, and sprinkled on boiled potatoes. The young leaves are a good addition to a mixed green salad.

Coriander

Coriandrum sativum. Sometimes called Chinese parsley or cilantro, the leaf has a distinctive aroma. Used extensively in Mediterranean, Latin American and Asian cooking. People either love or hate this herb with a fierce passion. The roots and leaves are a "must" in Thai green curry.

Bay Leaf

Laurus nobilis. There is hardly a savory dish which does not benefit from the addition of one or two bay leaves. An important part of bouquet garni, the leaves can be used fresh, straight from the tree or dried. A few bay leaves laced in a storage jar with rice will delicately flavor the rice and ward off weevils.