I grew up at a time when dried Herbes to Provenance were all the range and found in over-abundance in pretty much every dish…enough to put you off herbs for life.

Mum did have a rosemary bush and a sage plant in the garden, which I dashed out on a Sunday morning to cut sprigs off for the roast and stuffing. In the summer, I’d pick the mint from the pots to drop into the boiled new potatoes. There was curly parsley too for the fish in white sauce, of course!

Herbs now though are used, here, so much more tastefully with influence drawn from around the world. Whether they are at the heart of the dish like in a tabouleh or add a final flourish of vibrant green and fresh flavour as when sprinkled on top of a curry, they can really bring a dish alive, taking it from tasty to sublime.

I think herbs are an ingredient to be cherished. I buy them (haven’t had much luck with herbs in my garden apart from a rosemary bush which took over completely and then died when I tried to cut it back!) and so I like to treat them as a luxury ingredient; look after them when I have them (wrap in damp tea towel and store in a box in the fridge), make the most of them (stalks for stocks or herbal teas) and use them with purpose in a dish. Buying them less often makes me enjoy them all the more when I do have them. They feel special.

Mint is my favourite herb. What’s yours?