Herbs and Witches

Cooking with herbs combines the simple sensual pleasure of their smell, appearance, and taste, with reminders of their history, especially their central role in that remarkable combination of cooking, medicine, ritual, cosmetic practice, and experimental science that has long been women’s work. 

When we think about herbs, we have a tendency to think about Anne Bodenham, who  was executed for witchcraft in England in 1653.  She was eighty years old at the time.  She wore spectacles, spoke her mind, and had enjoyed a long career teaching, reading and providing an eclectic mix of services to her neighbors—helping them find things, solve problems, and cure minor ailments.  Such talents qualified her as what was called a “cunning woman,” a status that could easily get women into trouble because it was not easy to separate medicine and religious practices from occult belief at that time. Perhaps the most haunting aspect of this story is that, as she faced her execution, she dictated a kind of will, asking that her women friends would prepare her body for burial and destroy her garden:  “Her will was that the Women that shrouded her should go into her Garden, and gather up all her herbs, spoil all her flowers, and tear up the roots."  Why?  Perhaps she wanted to insure that no one would accidentally eat a poisonous or dangerous plant.  Perhaps she simply wanted to destroy an extension of her identity and a source of her power so that no one else could claim it.  Just as Shakespeare’s Prospero sinks the books from which his magical powers as a sorcerer derived, so Anne asked that her plants be torn out.  Whatever it may have been, we often think of her, our ghostly companion, as we tend our own herbs, in gratitude for something as simple as a garden we can call ours.

Most herb gardens have more benign uses and fates than Anne’s.  In ours, the herbs sometimes have to struggle to get enough sun so we also often buy fresh herbs at the market.  The herbs at the farmers market are more abundant, fresher, and less expensive than those available in supermarkets, especially those crammed into plastic boxes.  They make a beautiful posy, as fragrant and pretty as anything else you might put in a vase.   

This week, we made a recipe from A Celebration of Herbs:  Recipes from the Huntington Herb Garden.   This book is based on lectures by Shirley Kerins, but it includes recipes contributed and tested by a large cadre of Huntington Library volunteers and so it has some of the depth and breadth of a community cookbook, drawing on a wealth of collective knowledge and experience.  The book also includes quotations and images from the library’s collection of herbals, that is, encyclopedias of herbs, describing their culture and uses.  We chose this recipe because it highlights mushrooms, which we always have at the market, and the herbs in abundant supply now.

Tarragon-marinated mushrooms

1 pound mushrooms, cleaned

¾ cup olive oil

¼ cup wine vinegar (red or white)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons minced fresh chives

1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon minced fresh dill

1 clove garlic, minced (we used the green garlic and some chopped scapes since those are at the market now)

If the mushrooms are large, halve them and set aside.  Combine the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, chives, tarragon, salt, sugar, dill, and garlic in a large lidded container.   

Add the mushrooms, cover, and shake well.   

Marinate 4 hours or longer in the refrigerator.  Shake occasionally.  Serve chilled.

According to A Celebration of Herbs this will serve 6, but not at our house.  A head of cauliflower can also be substituted for the mushrooms.

Another great showcase for herbs is Feta marinated in olive oil and herbs.  This is especially good with Nicalau Farms goat feta, so here's hoping they start bringing it to the market again this summer.  Orland Creamery Farmstead has recently started offering a cows' milk feta on Saturdays that should work beautifully because it is porous and will absorb flavors very well.  This is also a great recipe for someone who wants a little project, but not too taxing, and who wants the long-term gratification of preserving without too much work.

We base our recipe on that in Joanne Weir's Wine Country Cooking.

Start with a good sized piece of feta, about 3/4 pound.  Take a hefty handful of sprigs of sturdy herbs--oregano, rosemary, and thyme are good.  "Gently bruise" them with the spine or side of a knife, as Weir suggests, to begin releasing their oils.  Heat a cup of good olive oil--from the market, naturally--over medium heat.  Don't let it get too hot!  You want to infuse it with the herbs, not fry them.  Throw in the herbs and let them sizzle for just 30 seconds.  Remove the pan from the heat and let the oil cool.  Then place some of the herb sprigs and oil in the bottom of a clean mason jar.  Pack cubes of feta (we like to cut it into cubes to maximize marination) into the jar and add the rest of the herbs and oil.  

Then store this in the refrigerator for 2 weeks to 3 months.  The longer it stands the herbier the feta will be.  When you serve it, return the cheese and oil to room temperature and  drizzle the cheese with the oil.  You can top this with  freshly chopped herbs; discard the herbs that have been in the oil.  But don't waste a drop of the oil!  It's very flavorful.  The cheese and oil will make a simple Greek salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives pretty special.