Herbs and cooking time (analagous to hops?)

[SpanishCastleAle]

I made marinara the other night with a recipe I haven't used in 25 years. In this recipe you boil onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, and herbs/spices/seasonings until the veggies are soft, then puree, then cook down with some evoo.

It occurred to me that boiling the fresh herbs for such a long time could be analgous to boiling hops. That is, boil for a long time and you get bitterness (another word/flavor would prob be more appropriate), boil for just a few minutes and you get more fresh herb flavor plus a little aroma, add them at the very end of the cooking and you get even more aroma. Is this the case? Would this recipe be better if I added the herbs as I puree?

 

[rebeltruce]

Rule of thumb for fresh herbs.......the shorter the cooking time the fresher the taste...last minute additions are almost always best for fresh herbs.

They don't get bitter if cooked along time....the flavor just gets lost.

Dried herbs different story....

 

[bierhaus15]

A good, authentic Italian Marinara is a simple affair - no long boiling and carrot/celery nonsense. That's for bolognese and ragu.

Good tomatoes (San Marzano), quality EVOO, spanish onion, garlic, (fresh thyme, basil, oregano), salt, pepper, and a little red pepper flakes. Sautee the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent, add tomatoes and gently simmer until partly reduced - 15 min. Add a little thyme and oregano and season to taste with salt and pepper/red pepper. Cook a little longer, 5 min, and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and finely julienned basil.

As stated above, don't cook fresh herbs for long amounts of time. You lose the flavor and risk adding a cooked spinach quality to the finished dish. However, quickly frying herbs in hot oil before adding a mirepoix/aromatics is a great way to infuse your cooking oil with nice herb flavors. Just make sure to not burn the herbs and discard them before continuing with the recipe. This works great for study herbs like sage, rosemary, thyme, and smashed garlic cloves.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

A good, authentic Italian Marinara is a simple affair - no long boiling and carrot/celery nonsense. That's for bolognese and ragu.

Did not know that, it's the only marinara recipe I've used and it's a restaurant recipe (not italian) I made ~25 years ago (but it used dry herbs). I'll have to change the name, because no way I'm changing the recipe. It went well with the braciole imo.