![\"Lovage1\"](\"http:\/\/gawrimanecuta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Lovage1-e1442786498741.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLovage<\/p>\n
The almost forgotten and underused aromatic herbs!<\/p>\n
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Why wouldn\u2019t an herb enthusiast or a vegetable gardener not grow these herbs in their garden?<\/p>\n
They are\u2019nt an evasive species. They stay put. And a little is all that is needed to spruce up a soup or a potato dish. Lovage\u2019s only crime is to grow taller than most plants.<\/p>\n
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From the moment a visitor enters my vegetable garden they are immediately greeted by a 2 feet tall bushy plant whose fragrant leaves are immediately mistaken for celery, parsley, celeriac or other members of the apiaceae family.<\/p>\n
I like to keep my lovage short by not letting it go to seed. These beauties can grow up to six feet tall.<\/p>\n
Their next reaction is to pick a leave, crush it and as soon as the leaves are crushed the visitor is hypnotized by a new scent that smells neither like celery nor anything else that they have smelled before.<\/p>\n
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It always starts with.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, you\u2019ve got celery.\u201d That\u2019s not celery.<\/p>\n
\u201cParsley?\u201d No, that\u2019s not parsley.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt smells great, what is it?\u201d Lovage<\/p>\n
\u201cLovage\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
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Next question is always, \u201cwhat do you do with it\u201d?<\/p>\n
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Romanians though are no strangers to lovage. There are a handful of herbs and spices that define Romanian cuisine like dill, summer savory, winter savory, tarragon and juniper berries. Lovage is amongst one of them.<\/p>\n
Lovage is used widely in soups, especially in Romania and this is how I was introduced to the herb. I\u2019ve an interesting story on how I got my hands on this herb.<\/p>\n
This is how lovage looks like. Do not confuse it with flat leaf parsley and celery.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The picture below is that of flat leaf parsley.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And this is celeries in a row.<\/p>\n My husband\u2019s familys\u2019 summer home is at the foot of the Carpathian mountains. The little village is called Ucea de Jos in Transylvania. Most of the families here have someone or rather who have migrated to North America. And it so happens that the mother of one of our friends still lives in Ucea de Jos.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One day we got a call that my father-in-law had send some letters through this family friend who now lives in London, Ontario. We took a day trip to London to pick the letters up and met this family. We were without doubt welcomed to a marvelous Romanian hospitality. During our conversation I noticed the \u201cleustan\u201d\u2014lovage in Romanian and asked our host where she had gotten the plant.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOh, that\u2019s from Ucea de Jos, she said. A friend brought it over during their trip back home to visit family. You know of this herb,\u201d she asked curiously.<\/p>\n Before leaving she had packed some food for the kids for the car trip home and for me a small lovage plant that she had cut from her garden. That\u2019s not all I got.<\/p>\n There were also summer savory and horseradish plant.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s been more than ten years now and I\u2019ve propagated the lovage and handed out roots for replanting to countless Romanians who we\u2019ve met here.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The smell of lovage in \u201cciorba\u201d (sour soup) is distinctly of Romania especially\u00a0\u00a0 during a crisp autumn evening. Thank god this perennial can withstand our winter. It\u2019s even one of the first plants to emerge in spring.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I use lovage for the many different kinds of delicious Romanian soup. I\u2019ve already put away my stash of lovage in the freezer for the coming winter months.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now as for tarragon I\u2019ve to replant it every few years. Our winters are getting bitterly cold.<\/p>\n Tarragon goes extremely well with potatoes, rice, polenta and potato dumplings.<\/p>\n Just a little goes a long way with his herb. Freeze it or mix it with salt and store the leaves in the fridge. Wash the salt off before using.<\/p>\n Grow French Tarragon and not the Russian type.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Below is the compact French Tarragon with a more pungent taste. A little goes a long way.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Below is the lanky Russian Tarragon<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n