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French Aromatic Seasoning
Mix 1/4 ounce each of thyme, bayleaves, and laurel, sweet marjoram, and rosemary. Dry these in the oven, and reduce to powder. Add 1/2 ounce each of powdered nutmeg and cloves, a teaspoonful of black pepper, and as much salt. When all are well mixed, sift, and put into bottles closely corked, for use. A pinch of this improves the flavor of soups, entrees, sauces, etc., when fresh herbs are not at hand.
A dry herb-and-spice blend of the kind French kitchens kept bottled as épices fines. The proportions are given by weight, which matters more here than usual: the spices are dosed at twice the rate of each herb, so the finished powder leans warm and sweet rather than green.
- Bayleaves and laurel are the same plantFrench laurier is bay, and the two separate entries are almost certainly a duplication of one ingredient. Treat it as one ingredient at 1/4 ounce, or use 1/2 ounce of bay if you want to honor the doubled entry. Use culinary bay laurel only; ornamental cherry laurel and mountain laurel are unrelated and not edible.
- What 1/4 ounce looks likeDried leaf herbs are very light: 1/4 ounce of thyme is roughly 2 tablespoons of dried leaves; 1/4 ounce of bay is a large handful, on the order of fifteen to thirty whole leaves depending on their size. The 1/2 ounce each of nutmeg and cloves is about 2 tablespoons of ground spice apiece. A kitchen scale is worth using rather than guessing by volume.
- Drying oven"Dry these in the oven" means the lowest heat you have, 150–175F with the door propped, for 20 to 40 minutes until the leaves crumble at a touch. Anything hotter drives off the volatile oils that are the whole point, and scorched rosemary turns the blend bitter.
- GrindingA spice mill or blade grinder does in seconds what a mortar does in ten minutes. Grind the leaves first while the bowl is dry, then add the pepper; bay stems are woody and will leave splinters, so the sifting step is not optional.
- Whole spices are better hereGrate the nutmeg fresh and grind the cloves yourself. Pre-ground nutmeg and clove lose most of their aroma within months, and this blend is meant to sit in a bottle for a while.
- Yield and dosageAbout 2 ounces, a little over half a cup — enough for many months. A "pinch" is the right instruction: cloves and nutmeg dominate quickly, and 1/4 teaspoon will season a pot of soup for four.
- Storage"Closely corked" meant airtight. A small screw-top jar kept dark and cool holds the aroma about six months; the blend does not spoil after that, it simply goes flat.
Blends of this sort sit between the English "mixed spice" tin and the French quatre épices, the pepper-nutmeg-clove-ginger mixture long used in charcuterie and slow-cooked dishes. What distinguishes this version is the heavy load of dried aromatic herbs — thyme, bay, marjoram, rosemary — which is essentially a powdered bouquet garni folded into the spice. The stated reason for keeping a bottle of it, "when fresh herbs are not at hand," points to a practical problem: outside the growing season a cook in a city flat had no herb bed, and dried herbs sold loose by the grocer were of unreliable age. Making and bottling your own was a matter of quality control.