Dill
Dill is the herb that makes a cucumber taste like a pickle. Fresh and grassy with a faint anise edge, it brightens everything from potato salad to scrambled eggs.
What It Is
Dill weed is the dried, feathery leaf of the dill plant, native to the Mediterranean and western Asia. It has been used in kitchens and home gardens for thousands of years, showing up in everything from Scandinavian fish dishes to Eastern European soups to American pickle brines.
The flavor is bright and a little tangy, grassy rather than sharp. It mellows quickly with heat, which is why it is usually stirred in at the end of cooking or used as a finishing touch rather than a base note.
What To Do
Add a generous pinch to potato soup, cucumber salad, egg salad, or roasted carrots in the last minute or two of cooking. Stir it into sour cream or plain yogurt with a little garlic and lemon for a fast dip or sauce. It is excellent on salmon, baked or pan-cooked.
For cold dishes like pasta or potato salad, add it early and let it sit so the flavor has time to open up. Store in a cool, dark spot and use within a year. A palmful is rarely too much.
