Thyme is one of the spice rack’s most versatile herbs and goes great with vegetables, seafood, and poultry. Thyme is also a key component of Jamaican jerk seasoning, which can also contain allspice, Scotch bonnet peppers, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic, brown sugar, ginger, and salt. A cooking technique peculiar to Creole cooking is “blackening”: meat or fish fillets are dipped into molten butter, then coated with a spice mix (containing thyme, red pepper, oregano, salt, garlic and onion powder) and then fried very quickly at high temperature in a heavy skillet. In the Americas, the Creole cuisine of New Orleans is known for its extensive use of thyme. In the Middle East, thyme is an important component of the seasonings zahtar (combination of sumac, sesame, salt, and herbs) and dukka (an Egyptian nut, seed and spice blend). Dried thyme is also part of herbs de Provence, a spice blend from Southern France. In France, bouquet garni (pictured below) are made up of fresh branches of thyme tied together with other fresh herbs (such as rosemary, parsley, and bay leaf) and are added to soups, sauces and stews, being removed before serving. Thyme is an important herb in many European cuisines, especially in Southern Europe. Main components are the phenolic compounds thymol (described as “sweet-phenolic-herbal-medicinal”) and carvacrol (described as “dry-medicinal-phenol-tarry”)(1). Thyme essential oil content varies drastically with climate, time of harvest, and storage conditions: extreme values are 0.75% and 6.5%. When dried, the leaves become darker grayish green in color.īitter, green, hay, medicinal, minty, and musty (4). Epicurean Facts Appearanceįresh thyme has thin woody stems, and small green leaves. There is a Christian legend that thyme was in the hay of the manger for the infant Jesus and consequently, has had a wonderful scent ever since (2,3). In medieval Europe, wild thyme was thought to attract fairies, especially on midsummer's eve. Roman soldiers would bathe in thyme to become courageous and up until medieval times thyme was given to soldiers upon leaving for battle. Thyme has also been used for symbolic purposes. In the 19th century AD, constituents of thyme oils were used by dentists to treat oral abscesses and inflammation and as an antiseptic. Thyme was well regarded by the ancient Greeks and Romans for its antiseptic properties and traditional remedies to this day associate thyme with the alleviation of pulmonary afflictions such as coughs. The first recorded evidence for the medical uses of thyme dates back to the first century AD in Dioscorides’ De materia medica and Pliny’s Natural History. The ancient Egyptians utilized thyme as part of their embalming process. Thyme has been used since ancient times for its culinary and medical properties. * Thymus vulgaris is considered the main culinary species History & Folklore Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, North Africa, Canada, and the USA After harvest, thyme is usually dried (naturally air dried or commercial hot air) to preserve its shelf life (2). Thyme is most aromatic right before its flowers start to bloom. Much of the crop is picked by hand since it grows low to the ground. The herb is sourced from both commercial farms and wild harvesting.
#Thyme in spanish full#
It thrives in full sun, but also tolerates partial shade. Thyme prefers dry chalky soil and tolerates drought once it is established. It has small green-grey evergreen leaves and violet colored flowers. Thyme is a small perennial shrub that grows 4-12 inches in height with slender, wiry, and spreading branches. In different languages thyme is called: satr (Arabic), bai li xiang (Mandarin Chinese), thym (French), thymian (German), timo (Italian), tomillo (Spanish), thimari (Greek), and ajwain ke phul (Hindi)(1, 2). The species name, vulgaris, is Latin for “common” or “widespread”. This mostly likely refers to the aroma generated by the burning of thyme as incense in ancient Greek temples. The name “thyme” derives from the Greek word thymos which means “to fumigate”. Thyme is the dried leaf from the Thymus vulgaris shrub.
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