Dill is one of the most commonly used spices in European cuisine. Not only the dill herb and the delicate dill tips can be used for seasoning purposes, the brown dill seeds also give many dishes a special flavor.

Harvest dill from your own cultivation and process it fresh

Dill (Anethum graveolens) is usually planted in rows in raised beds or greenhouses, as it requires little maintenance in a suitable location and naturally protects many types of vegetables from pests. For personal use in the kitchen, dill can also be sown in pots on a sunny balcony. So you can always harvest the young dill tips fresh when you need them in the kitchen. Since dill is an annual plant, you can harvest the entire plant in the fall. However, be aware that the filigree sprouts of the dill can often become uncomfortably hard from the time the dill blooms.

Process the dill yourself into dill oil

Since fresh dill, even wrapped in damp cloths, can only be stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of one to three weeks, processing already cut dill into intermediate products such as dill oil is a good idea. For the preparation you need the following ingredients:

  • an empty bottle
  • some dill sprigs or some dill herb
  • a few bay leaves
  • peppercorns
  • rapeseed oil

Put the dill in an empty bottle along with the bay leaves and peppercorns and pour in the rapeseed oil to the brim. Allow the mixture to stand for about three weeks before straining the oil and using it to flavor fish dishes and cucumber salad.

Prepare dill vinegar yourself

By preparing dill vinegar, the delicately aromatic aroma of the dill can be preserved and used to round off the taste of delicious salads. To do this, add four to six sprigs of dill and a teaspoon of dill seeds to a bottle along with white wine vinegar. Expose the mixture to sunlight in a warm place for about two weeks before straining off dill sprigs and seeds. Filled into a bottle rinsed with boiling water, the dill vinegar can be stored in the dark for up to six months.

tips and tricks

Always process chopped dill as soon as possible, as it always loses flavor and quality when stored unprocessed.

WK

Category:

Vegetable garden