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The Two Sides of Dill

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By Brenda Hyde and Lucinda Jenkins

Posted July 29th, 2007

FabulousFoods.com Recommends: The Spice and Herb Bible, by Ian Hemphill, (2006, Robert Rose)

The Spice and Herb Bible

Like most herbs, there are two sides to dill: the culinary and the medicinal. For centuries people have used plants and herbs of all sorts for their apparent health giving qualities. How convenient that something so healthy can also add so much flavor to our daily diets.

To explore the two sides of dill, we've enlisted the help of Brenda Hyde, editor of SeedsOfKnowledge.com, a website dedicated to creating and sharing family memories, and Lucinda Jenkins, editor of GlenbrookFarm.com, a comprehensive herbal website.

We've filled this article out with some recipes from right here at FabulousFoods.com, so you can experiment with the distinctive flavor of dill yourself. Find them in the related recipes section below.

The Culinary Side of Dill
By Brenda Hyde

Dill is not only a pretty foliage plant; it's fragrance is a "comfort smell" for many people. I barely touch it's feathery leaves and the smell of homemade dill pickles, crisp and savory, rubs off on my hands. At the same time, dill is an herb that is often passed over as just a pickle spice and is not truly appreciated.

Growing Dill
Dill can easily be grown from seed in full sun, and can even tolerate a slightly sandy soil. However, when first planting you should keep the soil moist until established. Do not move your dill; instead plant where you will be growing it. Thin the seedlings to 10 inches apart; they will grow about 3 feet high. Use the seedlings that you pull up; they are tender and delicious! Be sure to let one of the plants remain with it's seeds after the season is finished, so it will reseed itself. These plants will be much sturdier and hardier. Throughout the summer you can plant dill in 2 week intervals also, to maintain a supply of fresh leaves.

Using Dill
Dill leaf can be clipped and used in cottage cheese, potato salad, cream cheese, tomato soup and salads. You may also sprinkle chopped young dill on broiling lamb, pork chops or steak during the last five minutes of cooking. The seeds that form on dill can be sprinkled on small pieces of toast or crackers with salmon that has been mixed with mayonnaise. Both the seed and leaf can be used in fish sauces. The fresh leaves can be frozen in small resealable bags and used in dishes. When the leaves are dried, they are referred to as dill weed in recipes. The seeds can be kept in a closed container and used as needed.

The Medicinal Side of Dill
By Lucinda Jenkins

Dill is a favorite spice used around the world but it does have medicinal properties too. Dill's healing properties are antispasmodic ( which means an agent that relieves cramps), calmative (an agent that has a mild sedative effect), carminative ( an agent that moves gas from the intestines) and diuretic (an agent that increase urine flow).

Dill will also encourage menstrual flow because it is a powerful emmenagogue. Chewing dill seed has been a treatment for gas and heartburn. A little dill tea is an excellent remedy for colic for children according to famous herbalist David Hoffman.

Chewing some dill seeds can clean the breath and using dill in soap can deodorize the hands.

Dill & The Nursing Mother
Another attribute of dill is the property called "galactagogue" which helps to increase milk flow. Now that gives a whole new meaning to a pregnant woman craving dill pickles but a pregnant women should not use the dill tea as a remedy until after the baby.

Here is a kitchen remedy for increasing milk flow: combine together 1 teaspoon of each, anise, coriander, caraway, dill seeds, pour a pint of boiling water over the herbs and let steep for 30 minutes. Drink one cup an hour before feeding baby.