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Herb Powder for Soups

A dried herb blend made from marjoram, winter savory, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, celery seed, basil, and lemon peel.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Marjoram and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Herb Powder for Soups

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the herbs

  1. Gather fresh herbs just before they flower.

  2. Dry the herbs in a warm oven (not hot).

Powder and store

  1. Pound the dried herbs finely.

  2. Sift the powdered herbs through a wire sieve.

  3. Store the powder in small, tightly stoppered bottles in a dry place.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Winter savory + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together780 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Marjoram + winter savorytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together455 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Marjoram + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together688 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  5. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sweet marjoram
Provides the main aromatic, herbal flavour of the blend.
Winter savory
Adds a peppery, aromatic flavour that carries through soups.
Dried parsley
Contributes a fresh, green note and mild flavour to the blend.
Thyme
Adds warm, earthy aroma that suits long-simmered soups.
Bay leaves
Releases a subtle, floral aroma that deepens the soup's background flavour.
Sweet basil
Adds sweet, clove-like aroma to the herb mix.

The step that matters

Dry the herbs in a warm oven (not hot). Gentle heat removes moisture without scorching the herbs, which would make the powder taste bitter or burnt and lose aroma. Dried herbs must be fully dry before pounding, or the powder may clump and spoil in storage.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (marjoram, winter savory, parsley, thyme, basil, lemon):

  1. Sagefits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Oreganofits better
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against marjoram, winter savory, parsley, thyme, basil, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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