Grow your own Herbes de Provençe

Making your own Herbes de Provençe is easy, but like anything, it does require some up-front knowledge about selecting the best herbs, as well as knowing the right time to dry them, but the truth is, there is no one, single recipe which is ‘classic’ or even ‘traditional’.

Basic Herbes de Provence consists of just a few herbs – tarragon, thyme, rosemary and oregano, in a 25% ratio.

This past Saturday, I turned all ‘French’ for a day, picking so many herbs that my hands smelled for two days! Nothing that a little Pastis couldn’t cure!

A tradition Provençial wall locust, a ceramic locust that I bought in Nice, filled with fresh picked herbs on our porch near the kitchen. I have a half dozen of the Locust pots, hanging near the rear door in various sizes, I like how wierd they are, at least to an American, but as our locust’s hatch this year, they suddenly make sense.

Sure, one can find jars of Herbes de Provençe in France today, but there, the standard is a commercial brand marketed under the name Ducros, and Label Rouge ( now owned by spice giant McCormick).

Fancier brands in the US have ingredient that can vary wildly, but there seems to be one fact most connoisseurs of the herb mix agree upon, and that it, that it must never contain lavender, especially the blossoms. Lavender was added in the 1980’s to make mixes feel ‘French’ in both scent and feel’, ( OK< I like the Lavender in some mixes, I admit), but knowing that it was added so that it would appeal to tourists does make me want to try a more ‘authentic mix, even though I use the term ‘authentic’, loosely.

Today I decided to go out into the garden, and pick herbs specifically for drying, so that I can make my own Herbes de Provence mixture. Taking in all that I have learned in my research, I feel pretty confidant that I can make a good mixture, as I have many of the oil-rich herb species required.

The trick here is this: Use as many of the high summer-growing herbs, those Mediterranean species that would be found in gardens, or in the wilds of Southern France.  If one thing is essential, it is this – use the right varieties of these herbs, for an inferior Thyme, such as Lemon Thyme ( Thymus serpyphyllum, will dry terribly and ruin a mix). Here are my notes on each type of herb required for a decent Herbes de Provence mixture. Feel free to switch around proportions, but I will include the rough proportions used in France per the Label Rouge web site.

 I am separating the herbs into groups, plants that have similar amounts of volatile oils , or drying times.

Here are some basic suggestions for recipes:

1. The Label Rouge mixture calls for:
Rosemary, Oregano, Savory, Marjoram, Sage, Lovage. Bay, Parsley, Basil, Tarragon and Fennel.

2. An old French classic cook book the Larrousse de la Cuisine, has a much simpler mix:
Wild Thyme, Rosemary, Bay Leaf and Savory ( Summer Savory).

3. Patricia Wells, in her ‘Patricia Wells at Home in Provence’ cook book (Scribner, 1996), prefers fresh, wild collected herbs, snipped fresh fennel fronds rather than seed, as well as snipped dill, but lists her ‘classic’ dried mixture as having “Dried Fennel (seed), rosemary, sage, savory, and wild of domestic thyme.”

For what’s it’s worth, she goes on to clarify the difference between Herbes de Provençe and Fines Herbes. “Fines Herbes are comprised of fresh chervil, tarragon, chives and parsley”. Chefs worth their sea salt also know that Fines Herbes are best when assembeled and used as fresh herbs, and not dried.

Note: Not one of these contains lavender.

Herbs dry on the back porch. NOte the hand painted locusts on the olive urn.

Another chapter in Larrousse de la Cuisine lists “Fennel, Rosemary, Chervil, Oregano, Summer Savory, Tarragon, Mint, Marjoram Orange zest and Lemon Zest, and that Lavender leaves can be added ‘as a benifit for tourists”. How funny.
I have seen mixtures with

The truth is much more simple, and logical- Herbe’s de Provençe simple means “handfuls of summer herbs found in Southern France, and the recipes vary a widely from family to family, as recipes should, Let me know what your favorite mixture has in it.

Thyme and other aromatic herbs drying on the back porch.

Notes on specific herbs for Herbes de Provençe

Fennel, Tarragon,Lovage and Chervil

These provide that essential licorice flavor found in the mix, and although some mixes include all, or none of the licorice scented herbs, the most common ones used are tarragon and fennel. Fennel seed may provide the strongest flavor, and in France, wild fennel seed is preferred, but unless you live somewhere where this grows as an escapee ( such as in California), you will have to harvest your own, or buy it. Tarragon will dry nicely, but forget about drying Chervil, it is far too tender, and like cilantro, will lose its flavor.

Pick fresh herbs in just as the dew dries in the morning, as the leaves much never be wet or damp. Tie into tiny bundles, and air dry in a shady, dry and breezy spot. Pick more mature stems, ( if they don’t wilt, they are mature), as these will have the highest essential oil content.

If you are making a fresh mix, then you have many more options to achieve the same flavor profile.  When using fresh herbs, you may choose chopped Lovage leaves, but they can be horsey, due to their size and stems.  The finest fresh option is Chervil, which offers a delcate flavor profile almost unmatched as it is also somewhat floral. I would choose that as the finest option for that authentic mix, Remember, never dry chervil, fennel fronds or lovage, for all you will have is hay-scented herbs with only a hint of licorice.

Fresh Oregano

Oregano, Marjoram, Sage

Finding the proper oregano may be your greatest challenge, as most commercial garden varieties found in the US are not the true culinary oregano we find at pizza parlors or even at the market. Look first for a type that will return year after year, and as Oregano in the world of Provençe most likely means ‘wild oregano’, an Oraganum species found growing throughout the mediterranean. At nurseries, look  for Greek Oregano, or Oreganum vulgare. What you want here is a rich, strong-flavored oregano that will hold its flavor once dried, and, an oregano with flavor. Lemon oregano, orange oregano and any of the fancy types won’t do. In drying oregano, one must wait until late in the growing season, when the plant is blooming, as the floral buds and blossom ends contain the richest amount of volatile oils. Leaves have the least. Look for varieties that have woodier stems, and not green stems that will wilt when picked. A proper oregano branch should be woody, stiff and intensely fragrant. A bunch of dried oregano in bloom, should only be rubbed gently between ones hands, to release the fragrant leaflets near the blossoms.

Sage can vary, as of course, it is a Salvia. I find that culinary sage can vary from plant to plant, so when buying plant or growing your own from seed, test them all, to find your favorite. Some new hybrids are excruciatingly horrible in scent ( especially the thin-leaved dwarf forms). Find a good sage, and stick with it. I know it is strong, and hard to find a good use for ( but I do reccommend  the recipe for Frittata in the Al Forno cookbook  Cucina Simpatica by food geniuses Johanne Killeen and George Germon – my favorite cookbook in the world, in which every page is stuck together and the cover has been missing for years! It will make you adore sage and eggs. Cucina Simpatica gave me a gift, and that gift was a love for sage beyond Bell’s Seasoning.).

Herbes de Provençe hang on a breezy, airy porch near our kitchen entrance where the sun never shines.

Savory, Basil, and Parsley

When the French write about Savory here, they are referring to the one gardeners know as Summer Savory. In seed catalogs and at some nurseries you may find something called winter savory, it is woody and has a fuzzier leaf. Summer Savory has a smooth leaf, and if you are not growing this herb already, I urge you to. I never eat Zucchini without it!. Both are eventually woody shrublets, but winter savory is so much more hairier and greyer, and it has a  skunky and bitter taste which makes it less palatable. Summer savory must be grown from seed, or from plants if you are lucky to find it. Harvest before it blooms, or in late summer when the new growth has begun to harden off. Again, volatile oils is the goal, and these mature as summers end.

Choosing the perfect Thyme means doing a little more research – the wrong thyme can ruin everything.

Thyme, Rosemary, Bay

Thyme seems to be a lose term at most garden centers, so proceed carefully. The thyme species you want is Thymus vulgaris, not Thymus serpyphyllum. You can tell the difference sometimes from the labels ( variegated Thyme, Golden Thyme or Lemon Thyme, are all T serpyphyllum – it has a wider leaf. Thymus vulgaris is more woody, especially near the end of summer, as as a culinary thyme, it has leaves which are often rolled, or smaller. If in doubt, the scent will give it away, as T, vulgaris cultivars that are best for cooking have crispier leaves, full of essential oils. Never use the Wooly Thymes, T. pseudolanuginosus.

Freshly picked Rosemary from containers on the gravel bed

Rosemary varieties are more versatile, as most are so similar, with varying degrees of oilyness. I use a prostrate from, with semi-mature stems that are half green, half woody near the end of summer – they are often so sticky with oils when I pick them, that I need to clean my snips. Rosemary can be harvested anytime of the year, but I find that growth which is almost mature has the finest flavor when dried, and is less likely to turn into sharp ‘pine needles’.

Bay laurel is easy, as long as you have the true Bay laurel. Laurus nobilis. Many plants have common names with the term ‘laurel’ but some are poisonous, or at the very least, inedible. I harvest my bay laurel leaves just as the mature in August or September, as young harvested while too young will dry with a brown color. No need to string them up,  I simply place them in egg cups on a breezy porch out of the sun, and they will dry in a few weeks.

I grow many types of Basil, but this Genovese basil I feel is not choice as some of the smaller leaved forms for drying. Still, I rarely dry basil, opting to either only use it fresh, or eliminate it from the mix.

Basil, parsley

As dried herbs, these are basically filler, I believe. For we all should know by now that dried basic is horrid, and dried parsley is barely fit enough for a caged rabbit. Use these only if you are making a fresh mixture, otherwise, leave them out.