From harvest to use

What you should know about the olive herb

The aromatic herb comes from Spain, Portugal and Morocco. It actually tastes like olives, but also a little like thyme and rosemary. Just like the two well-known aromatic herbs, it goes well with roasted meat and rounds off sauces and salad dressings harmoniously.

It is also known by the following names:

• Holy herb
• Holy flower
• Cypress herb

Dry the olive herbs

If you have planted olive herbs in your garden, you should wait until a sturdy bush has formed before the first harvest. Then you can regularly harvest and dry the branches of the herb. You should proceed as gently as possible during the drying process so that the herb does not lose much of its aroma.

Air dry and oven dry

1. Separate clean, fresh twigs.
2. Wash them and dry them well.
3. Bundle the branches and hang them upside down in an airy place that is as warm as possible, but not sunny.
4. After a few days, when the dry leaves can be easily peeled off the stems, the drying process is over.
5. Fill the dried olive herbs into airtight cans or jars and keep them in a dark place.

You will reach your goal faster if you dry your olive herbs in the oven.

1. To do this, preheat the oven to 40 degrees.
2. Put the herbs on a baking sheet in the oven.
3. Clamp a wooden spoon or a thick pot holder between the oven door so that the moisture can escape.
4. After a few hours, the herb is dry and can be stored.

You can also achieve good drying results in the dehydrator.

Use of dried olive herbs

Those who love Mediterranean cuisine will love to use the olive herb. It is suitable for seasoning salads and pestos, it refines meat, fish and mushroom dishes. However, you should not cook the dried cabbage, but pour it over the food just before serving or stir it in at the end of the cooking time.
An effective medicinal tea can be made from dried olive herbs. It has a positive effect on gastrointestinal infections, flatulence and against the yeast Candida albicans.