Grow your own green herbs to create a fresh Green Goddess dressing.
Did you know that the Green Goddess dressing was created over a 100 years ago by a chef in San Francisco as a tribute to the lead actor in the stage play ‘The Green Goddess?’
The original recipe consisted of chopped fresh chives, tarragon and parsley. Together with mashed anchovy, the herbs were blended into a creamy dressing of mayonnaise and sour cream. A dash of lemon juice and vinegar was added to cut through the richness.
Over time chefs and home cooks have created their own versions. You can too, as long as the basics remain: fresh green herbs, a creamy base and a squeeze of lemon or dash of vinegar.
It makes a delicious dressing for salads, as a dip or drizzle over roasted or steamed veggies.
Surprising fact: Seems there is no agreement on who the chef was. Browse the internet and different blogs claim with great authority that the chef was either Victor Hirtzler, or Philip Roemer or Phillip S Kauffman. No matter, it’s the flavour that counts.
Classic green goddess herbs
Tarragon supplies the classic liquorice-like flavour and only small amounts of the chopped fresh herb are necessary.
There are two tarragon varieties to grow from seed, as well as chervil which has a lighter anise/liquorice flavour.
Russian Tarragon prefers poor soils and happily tolerates drought and neglect. Grow in a warm sunny position. A good herb for containers.
Mexican tarragon, also known as Marigold Mexican Mint, needs very little care and produces tasty leaves throughout summer.
Chervil tastes like a cross between tarragon and parsley. It has delicate, curly leaves resembling carrot tops. Sow where it is to grow because its tap root system doesn’t take kindly to transplanting.
Chives add a mild flavour of onion. Chives may take up to three weeks to germinate, so be patient. Harvest the leaves by snipping them off at the base. New shoots emerge quickly. Feed with liquid fertiliser at half strength once a month and they last well for two to three years.
Parsley can either be the traditional moss curled parsley or the more flavourful Italian parsley. Parsley can be difficult to start from seed, and it can take several weeks for seed to germinate, but once established, seedlings are easy, quick growers that can take sun and partial shade. Regular harvesting will encourage plants to produce new leaves.
Variations
Basil (sweet clove), Rocket (peppery), coriander (aromatic citrus) and can all be sown directly into the soil or into large seed trays.
By sowing thickly, the early growth can be thinned out and used as their leaves have an intense flavour. The plants left behind can mature or be treated as cut-and-come again herb salad leaves. They can also be grown in pots for the patio, sunny courtyard or balcony.
For more information: www.kirchhoffs.co.za or buy seed online from www.gropak.co.za
Article and images by Alice Coetzee.
