Dill

Herb/Spice for July 2010

Dill (Anethum graveolens) is a solo act – the sole species of the genus Anethum. Dill is a short-lived perennial herb growing up to 3ft high with delicate fern like leaves. The aromatic leaves, used fresh bring a unique taste to many foods – such as pickles, borscht, cured salmon. The “heads” are full of seeds (about 4-5mm and 1mm long) and the seeds can be slightly curved. Both the leave and seeds can be used in spicing foods.

Dill is native to southern Europe and western Asia – the oldest archeological evidence comes from lake shore settlements in Switzerland. Dill was used in Roman cooking and they distributed it widely with their conquests. Noted in the Bible as being tender for tithes during the time of the Pharisees. The name dill is thought to derive from the Norse/Anglo Saxon word dylle meaning to soothe or lull.

Dill is known for its wild and weedy growth – thus dill weed as its referred to sometimes. Quick to grow and even quicker to decline. A fresh cut stalk will start to wilt almost immediately. To successfully grow dill requires good heat and good amounts of sunshine. Even partial shade will reduce your yields. It prefers rich and well drained soil. Use the fresh leaves while they are growing and harvest the seeds for later use as spice or seed. Dill oil can be extracted from the plant. Seeds can be kept for cultivation next year as an annual.

Dill is used extensively in pickling recipes worldwide to preserve asparagus, cucumbers, beans and vegetable mixes. When pickling one  can use either leaves, seeds or the entire “heads” in jars. Fish and dill are a heavenly combo – tuck a couple of sprigs of fresh dill under any fish to steam, saute, bake or broil – remove the sprigs and skin to serve for a mellow taste addition. See this month’s Creamy Cucumber Dressing as a great summer salad treat. Dill and potatoes are a good match too – try a touch in your potato salad. It is also a good toss with chives in egg dishes. Dill has such a unique taste that it has signature dishes around the world – Swedish Gravlax (a cured fillet of salmon dish), Indian yellow Moong dal (a main-course dill dish), Russian borscht (heady beet soup), and in Lao – Mok Pa (fish wrapped in banana leave dish).

Interesting Facts:
Dill is considered to have very good anti-gas properties and hence it is used as mukhwas, an after-meal digestive from India.
By tradition, dill is also traditionally given to mothers immediately after childbirth.
Dill seed is a very good source of calcium, and a good source of the minerals manganese and iron
Dill was used by Hippocrates, the father of medicine, in a recipe for cleaning the mouth.
Ancient roman and greek soldiers would apply burnt dill seeds to their wounds to promote healing.
The total volatile oil portion of dill has also been studied for its ability to prevent bacterial overgrowth. In this respect, dill shares the stage with garlic, which has also been shown to have “bacteriostatic” or bacteria-regulating effects