Friday, January 02, 2009

Almost fresh herbs - Daregal Gourmet - Try them!

I got some herbs in the mail the other day. Not your typical bag of dried herbs. OOOOooooh no!
These are fresh frozen herbs. They are first sprayed with the lightest of coatings of vegetable oil to keep them from sticking together, and then quickly frozen. They are from Daregal Gourmet.

As is often the case when I'm trying something new, I didn't expect much.
Someday I will learn to have higher expectations.
We'll save that for another post - lol...

These herbs arrived in a styrofoam cooler, packed in dry ice. GREAT packing except I will interject here that because the label "dry ice" was UNDER the ice, and because around here we are well accustomed to unpacking drugs that are packed in NON dry ice, I found out how quickly dry ice can burn you. Again, we can save that for another time.

The containers of herbs are deceptively small. The herb flavors intensify due to the freezing, and yet taste just like they were picked moments ago. The colors are perfect and oh-so appetizing. They really are wonderful. Compared to the price of dried herbs, they are quite reasonable, particularly since they don't taste anything at all like dust!
They will last me quite a while, and I look forward to using every bit of them. With any luck, they'll last right into early spring, when I can wander out for parsley and chives from the garden.
The varieties are as follow:
Basil
Cilantro
Parsley
Oregano
Dill
Original Blend
Italian Blend
Grilling Blend

The Original Blend is called "Song of the Cicada", and upon first glance it didn't mean anything. However, upon opening and sampling the blend in some chicken stock, I got it. The flavor is so fresh that it reminds you of summer evenings when you can sit outside and hear the cicadas calling to each other in the warm humid air.
They can be ordered on line, or look on their website and find retail outlets near you.

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