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The Culinary Herbal: Growing & Preserving 97 Flavorful Herbs
“This fresh new masterpiece excites the senses!” —Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist and bestselling author
Good cooks know that when it comes to herbs, there is nothing better than harvesting them fresh from the garden. The Culinary Herbal highlights 97 delicious varieties—like black cumin, fenugreek, lemon balm, and sassafras—that every food lover will want to add to their kitchen garden. In this gorgeously photographed guide, you will learn which herbs offer the most flavor, how to grow them at home, and how to put them to use. Plant profiles are organized alphabetically by herb type and include basic growing information, flavor notes, and culinary uses. Additional information includes step-by-step instructions for harvesting, preserving, and storing, along with techniques for making pastes, syrups, vinegars, and butters.
Good cooks know that when it comes to herbs, there is nothing better than harvesting them fresh from the garden. The Culinary Herbal highlights 97 delicious varieties—like black cumin, fenugreek, lemon balm, and sassafras—that every food lover will want to add to their kitchen garden. In this gorgeously photographed guide, you will learn which herbs offer the most flavor, how to grow them at home, and how to put them to use. Plant profiles are organized alphabetically by herb type and include basic growing information, flavor notes, and culinary uses. Additional information includes step-by-step instructions for harvesting, preserving, and storing, along with techniques for making pastes, syrups, vinegars, and butters.
328 pages, Hardcover
First published January 2, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 14, 2016
The Culinary Herbal: Growing and Preserving 97 Flavorful Herbs by Susan Belsinger, Arthur O. Tucker, and Shawn Lineman is a wonderful resource about herbs which is currently scheduled for release on January 27 2016. This book details 97 different variety of herbs including how to use them, how to care for them, and a variety of other important information. Plant profiles are organized alphabetically by herb type and have wonderful full color photographs. Additional information includes step-by-step instructions for harvesting, preserving, and storing, along with techniques for making pastes, syrups, vinegars, and butters.
The Culinary Herbal is a well organized and very informative guide to culinary herbs. I found the information to be comprehensive and useful. I grow many herbs that were included in the book, and thought that the collection of information was very useful and I enjoyed reading more about the herbs that I have never grown. The herbs are categorized alphabetically and are complete with full color photographs and important information. The photographs were particularly helpful, showing multiple views and varieties of the herbs to add in identification and proper usage. The scientific and growing information was also complete and well organized. This is a great guide for herb growers and those that enjoy using fresh herbs in their kitchen.
The Culinary Herbal is a fantastic resource for reference and planning a home herb garden. It offers complete information on each herb, even some less common varieties, as well as usage and care information. I think it would be a valuable reference guide for anyone interested in getting serious about growing and using herbs.
The Culinary Herbal is a well organized and very informative guide to culinary herbs. I found the information to be comprehensive and useful. I grow many herbs that were included in the book, and thought that the collection of information was very useful and I enjoyed reading more about the herbs that I have never grown. The herbs are categorized alphabetically and are complete with full color photographs and important information. The photographs were particularly helpful, showing multiple views and varieties of the herbs to add in identification and proper usage. The scientific and growing information was also complete and well organized. This is a great guide for herb growers and those that enjoy using fresh herbs in their kitchen.
The Culinary Herbal is a fantastic resource for reference and planning a home herb garden. It offers complete information on each herb, even some less common varieties, as well as usage and care information. I think it would be a valuable reference guide for anyone interested in getting serious about growing and using herbs.
March 1, 2016
This book is more of a gardening book than a cookbook. The majority of the book is an alphabetical listing of dozens of herbs - some I'd never even heard of. There is a very small section at the end of the book that talks about growing and preserving herbs and then a few recipes. While I do grow some herbs in my garden, I was hoping for more about best ways to preserve and use herbs while they're fresh. It's great if you want to find out about all kinds of herbs, but not much of a cookbook.
March 14, 2016
This is a beautiful and thorough collection of herbs that covers preferred growing conditions, harvesting, storage and use. With a title of The Culinary Herbal the only thing I felt was missing would've been more actual recipes for using all of these delightful herbs. Aside from that little disclaimer, I highly recommend it.
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review*
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review*
June 30, 2025
Didn’t feel the information was accurate
January 18, 2016
I would like to thank Timber Press for a free ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an open and honest review.
This was an interesting book that I’m finding hard to describe. With the word ‘culinary’ in the title, I had been expecting more of a cooking based book than it actually is. Yes there are mentions in the list of herbs as to what they are best used for, yes there are some recipes and yes there were great details on how to preserve the herbs for cooking… but I still somehow felt a little let down there wasn’t more about the food side.
To me, this was just another book on herbs. Their Latin names, some description of them (but you mostly relied on the picture for identification), their origin and some of their uses. Nothing particularly exciting or culinary. But I do feel terrible by saying ‘just another book on herbs’… but I can’t think of what else to say.
I did learn some new herbs, and I did learn more about how to harvest and eat some of the ‘weeds’ we have in my backyard. Though, as the book didn’t have a detailed list of other names the plant is known by, I’m not 100% sure I have the right plant. Is what we call soursop Wood Sorrel? Or are they just both from the Oxalis family? There were a few plants I came across like this where I found I would need to do a web search for more info… and if I was researching them via the web, would I really need this book for reference?
Okay, I need to put in some positives as the book does deserve some. The section on growing herbs was good – for those who were just starting out at growing things. And I did like the detailed section on ‘Maintaining the Health of Herbs’ as it covered quite a few issues that do pop up.
Another positive is it introduced me to some herbs from North America I’d not heard of before. But, sadly for me, the reason I’ve not herd of them is probably because I can’t grow them here in Australia so as interesting as learning about them was… I doubt I can add them to my garden.
Would I recommend this book to others? Possibly, but more likely not. It was an interesting book to read, but there are better Australian based herbalist books that I would suggest for local friends. Plus it didn’t cover all the herbs I use. Though I might recommend it to people starting out in growing their own herbs in the USA? It is a good little resource book, but I didn’t find anything in it that made it stand out from the crowd.
Would I buy this book for myself? No, sorry. There just wasn’t enough easy to locate and unique information in this book to make me want to own it. As said, I gathered more useful information on specific herbs from doing a web search than I did from reading it. And there are other gardening/ herbalist books I already own that covered the growing, harvesting and preserving of herbs. I really feel I am not the right audience for it. Maybe it is better suited to someone just learning about herbs? A beginner’s herb guide maybe?
In summary: Possibly a good book for someone in North America just starting out on learning about herbs, but not in-depth enough for me. Somehow it was just missing the wow factor and I wish I could put my finger on why.
This was an interesting book that I’m finding hard to describe. With the word ‘culinary’ in the title, I had been expecting more of a cooking based book than it actually is. Yes there are mentions in the list of herbs as to what they are best used for, yes there are some recipes and yes there were great details on how to preserve the herbs for cooking… but I still somehow felt a little let down there wasn’t more about the food side.
To me, this was just another book on herbs. Their Latin names, some description of them (but you mostly relied on the picture for identification), their origin and some of their uses. Nothing particularly exciting or culinary. But I do feel terrible by saying ‘just another book on herbs’… but I can’t think of what else to say.
I did learn some new herbs, and I did learn more about how to harvest and eat some of the ‘weeds’ we have in my backyard. Though, as the book didn’t have a detailed list of other names the plant is known by, I’m not 100% sure I have the right plant. Is what we call soursop Wood Sorrel? Or are they just both from the Oxalis family? There were a few plants I came across like this where I found I would need to do a web search for more info… and if I was researching them via the web, would I really need this book for reference?
Okay, I need to put in some positives as the book does deserve some. The section on growing herbs was good – for those who were just starting out at growing things. And I did like the detailed section on ‘Maintaining the Health of Herbs’ as it covered quite a few issues that do pop up.
Another positive is it introduced me to some herbs from North America I’d not heard of before. But, sadly for me, the reason I’ve not herd of them is probably because I can’t grow them here in Australia so as interesting as learning about them was… I doubt I can add them to my garden.
Would I recommend this book to others? Possibly, but more likely not. It was an interesting book to read, but there are better Australian based herbalist books that I would suggest for local friends. Plus it didn’t cover all the herbs I use. Though I might recommend it to people starting out in growing their own herbs in the USA? It is a good little resource book, but I didn’t find anything in it that made it stand out from the crowd.
Would I buy this book for myself? No, sorry. There just wasn’t enough easy to locate and unique information in this book to make me want to own it. As said, I gathered more useful information on specific herbs from doing a web search than I did from reading it. And there are other gardening/ herbalist books I already own that covered the growing, harvesting and preserving of herbs. I really feel I am not the right audience for it. Maybe it is better suited to someone just learning about herbs? A beginner’s herb guide maybe?
In summary: Possibly a good book for someone in North America just starting out on learning about herbs, but not in-depth enough for me. Somehow it was just missing the wow factor and I wish I could put my finger on why.
January 27, 2016
Three hundred pages plus of herbs you can use for cooking, with useful information on growing them, preserving them, and some recipes for them. From Ajowan to Wood Sorrel, via Catnip, Day Lily, Kaffir Lime, Monarda, Plantain, Shungiku. The authors include all the common herbs and lots of uncommon ones too.
As they say:
"We have written this book for gardeners who like to cook and cooks who want to grow the best-flavored culinary herbs, as well as for the everyday herbal enthusiast."
Each herb gets a photo treatment, with growing information, taste descriptions, uses, harvesting and preserving tips, and even a description of the variations available. The growing sections are wonderful, including troubleshooting tips.
Sassafras, ginger, garlic, capers, peppers, sesame, roots, seeds leaves, flowers and fruits are included too, even herbs used only for teas, not for cooking. But I would have liked more drink recipes like for root-beer, ginger-ale and sassafras, and tips on making liquors with the herbs.
As someone who has strong reactions to everything, I would have liked also an additional section for each herb, to explain the medicinal use if any, and effects it can have on sensitive people like me.
I think it would make a great gift book for herb enthusiasts. I received a review-copy of the book. This is my honest review.
As they say:
"We have written this book for gardeners who like to cook and cooks who want to grow the best-flavored culinary herbs, as well as for the everyday herbal enthusiast."
Each herb gets a photo treatment, with growing information, taste descriptions, uses, harvesting and preserving tips, and even a description of the variations available. The growing sections are wonderful, including troubleshooting tips.
Sassafras, ginger, garlic, capers, peppers, sesame, roots, seeds leaves, flowers and fruits are included too, even herbs used only for teas, not for cooking. But I would have liked more drink recipes like for root-beer, ginger-ale and sassafras, and tips on making liquors with the herbs.
As someone who has strong reactions to everything, I would have liked also an additional section for each herb, to explain the medicinal use if any, and effects it can have on sensitive people like me.
I think it would make a great gift book for herb enthusiasts. I received a review-copy of the book. This is my honest review.
April 4, 2016
Well organized book with beautiful photos, thorough descriptions and interesting facts. Clearly well researched. I was looking for a book to help me identify some plants/herbs growing in my yard that I suspected were plants I could eat but wasn't sure about.
-I apparently have tons of chickweed that I could have been tossing in a salad as opposed to recycling.
-Some species of perilla possess a toxin that is deathly to cows and other animals that ingest perilla leaves in the wild (I eat a prodigious quantity in the summer and will now reconsider - no one has substantiated if perilla is harmful to humans but why take a chance)
-I apparently have tons of chickweed that I could have been tossing in a salad as opposed to recycling.
-Some species of perilla possess a toxin that is deathly to cows and other animals that ingest perilla leaves in the wild (I eat a prodigious quantity in the summer and will now reconsider - no one has substantiated if perilla is harmful to humans but why take a chance)
October 12, 2015
Oh my.....I must buy this book when it is released. I was lucky enough to get a digital copy from NetGallery in exchange for a fair and honest review.
This is definitely a five star book in my opinion!
The photographs are exquisite. The explanations of the herbs is greatly informative, but more than anything, the author acknowledges the sensual nature of herbs with their fragrances, textures, etc. Why would anyone choose to cook with dried, commercial spices when they can harvest and have the satisfaction of growing their own?
I MUST have this book in hardcover!!!
This is definitely a five star book in my opinion!
The photographs are exquisite. The explanations of the herbs is greatly informative, but more than anything, the author acknowledges the sensual nature of herbs with their fragrances, textures, etc. Why would anyone choose to cook with dried, commercial spices when they can harvest and have the satisfaction of growing their own?
I MUST have this book in hardcover!!!
May 15, 2016
Detailed uses for a ton of common, and should be common, herbs along with helpful tips for growing each. Can't wait to re-try my hand at Cilantro!
February 22, 2019
A surprisingly unique and excellent book. Despite the title, I definitely believe that the focus here is on gardening with these plants, rather than cooking with them (there are only a handful of basic recipes in the back). I expect to turn to this volume frequently in the next year when I am putting in my long-awaited garden.
September 14, 2017
Fantastic handbook on growing - and most importantly - storing a wide variety of herbs. As someone new to storing herbs, this was a good comprehensive look at the various approaches.
Read
October 19, 2019What's great about this book is that every single herb has a beautiful photo. There are more herbs than what I consider the classic culinary herbs. This is a beautiful beginner book.
January 18, 2017
Will try to remember for spring!
July 15, 2016
What I really like about this book from Timber Press is the authors’ inclusion of some very exotic herbs and spices, like Ajowan, Curry leaf, Fenugreek, Rau răm, Spicebush, Kaffir lime, and Watercress, which I collected as a kid from Holmes Run in Fairfax County, Virginia, cooked, and served to the family. They were indifferent about it, but I liked the idea of foraging for food, and Euell Gibbons (author of Stalking the Wild Asparagus) was a hero of mine. The Culinary Herbal has given me some interesting ideas, like growing, harvesting, and pickling my own capers, which are the tiny flower buds of Capparis spinosa.
I��m also going to track down and grow Cuban oregano, Plectranthus amboinicus, also known as Spanish thyme, a succulent herb that makes a splendid herb paste for grilling chicken. I remember picking some in the herb gardens of Paramin, in Trinidad.
This is a beautiful book for gardeners, filled with interesting ideas. But alas, it’s another book with wonderful plants but no seed sources.
July 27, 2023
A favorite herb book! I’m a sucker for good pictures (although I’m a rotten photographer myself), and this book is a visual goldmine. There aren’t as many different herbs covered as I would like, but the gardening how-to information for each one is super helpful.
I primarily consider this book a favorite based on visuals. There are other magnificent herb-gardening books out that with MUCH more information — but sometimes I value the visuals higher than the growing info, because as long as I have the care basics I can muddle along a bit.
I haven’t read it cover to cover — cumin, I do not love thee — but I certainly read most of it. Surprised me that poppies are illegal. Surprised me that sesame seeds come in more than one color.
Some of the information isn’t entirely accurate, I suspect; some of the zoning information looked overly broad. I grow some of these herbs as perennials that were listed as hardy only to zone 6 (I am in zone 4). Overall, it’s a great resource for identification and general growing habits. I’m certainly happy I found it!
Krista Behr
www.yankeedirt.com
I primarily consider this book a favorite based on visuals. There are other magnificent herb-gardening books out that with MUCH more information — but sometimes I value the visuals higher than the growing info, because as long as I have the care basics I can muddle along a bit.
I haven’t read it cover to cover — cumin, I do not love thee — but I certainly read most of it. Surprised me that poppies are illegal. Surprised me that sesame seeds come in more than one color.
Some of the information isn’t entirely accurate, I suspect; some of the zoning information looked overly broad. I grow some of these herbs as perennials that were listed as hardy only to zone 6 (I am in zone 4). Overall, it’s a great resource for identification and general growing habits. I’m certainly happy I found it!
Krista Behr
www.yankeedirt.com
November 3, 2016
This book was fascinating, and I took ample notes on the information it has to offer since it was a library book. That being said, it would have been great if the authors didn't feel the need to constantly inform me that they weren't into all that medicinal stuff. If that's not what the book is, warn people in the intro, and then just don't talk about medicinal properties. That simple. After all, the word "culinary" is right there in the title.
May 3, 2017
This is my favorite go-to resource for cultivation and harvesting my herbs. It's thorough and helpful.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews