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THYME

Thyme is especially compatible with marjoram, summer savory, and parsley.

Native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean, thyme is a member of the mint family. Its sweet-smelling gray-green leaves have a bright, sharp taste.

Varieties

There are many varieties of thyme, the most popular being garden thyme, which gives off a minty, light-lemony scent. Other varieties include English, French, caraway-scented, and lemon thyme. They all have tiny leaves.

Buying and Storing Tips

Choose fresh thyme that has a clean, fresh scent. It can be stored in the refrigerator, wrapped in a barely damp paper towel inside a sealable plastic bag, for up to five days. Dried thyme should be stored in a cool, dark place for no more than six months.

Availability

Fresh thyme is available in some food markets during the summer months. Dried thyme—in both leaf and powder form—is available year-round in the spice section of most food markets.

Preparation, uses, and tips

Whatever the variety, thyme is widely used in cooking to add flavor to vegetables, meat, poultry and fish dishes, soups, stews, and cream sauces. It’s a basic herb of French cuisine and integral to the bouquet garni—a bunch of herbs (the classic trio being parsley, thyme, and bay leaf) that is either tied together with string or placed in a cheesecloth bag and used to flavor soups, stews, and broths. With garlic, nothing can substitute for thyme in the classic French beef stew called Boeuf Bouguignon. When used with a light hand, it is also good in bean dishes. In Greek cooking, thyme goes well with other seasonings, such as oregano and dill.

Thyme dries better than most herbs. It retains much of its flavor and does not develop the dry, straw-like taste that develops among many herbs when dried. When using thyme in a salad, fresh is a better choice than dried.

Thyme is especially compatible with marjoram, summer savory, celery leaves, and parsley, and it goes well with vegetables of the cabbage family, as well as potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant.

Lastly, thyme can easily overpower other, more delicate flavors, so it should be used with a light hand. It’s a good choice for slowly cooked dishes, where it is less likely to dominate other seasonings.

Nutritional Highlights

Thyme (fresh),, 1 tsp (0.80g)
Calories: 0.8
Protein: 0.04g
Carbohydrate: 0.2g
Total Fat: 0.01g
Fiber: 0.1g

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