What herbs, spices, seasonings etc. work together?

My instinct tells me that tarragon and sage are both pretty dominant flavours, so I´d probably just give it a go.
Tarragon has a distinct aniseed flavour, whereas sage tends towards sweet. Give it a go and see whether they compliment, or clash with each other.
 
On Friday I´m making something called Murgh Rizzala - a huge bunch of cilantro and mint mixed together with cream. It goes well with chicken, but also with fish or seafood.
 
Some combinations are simply nationalistic - and there´s nothing wrong with that. For example; lamb with mint sauce; fish with parsley; pesto with basil;Hungarian dishes with paprika; Italian food with basil and oregano; Mexican foods with chiles. That , for me, is simply because they were the herbs/spices available at the time and/or place. In the past 20-30 years, since food has become more "foodie", chefs have experimented with all sorts of combinations which might never have been thought of before. vanilla scented veal, anyone? Spicy lemongrass and basil shrimp?
Herbs and spices are notoriously difficult to describe as taste profiles. For example, how would you describe, in detail, what a cardamom seed tastes like? Or some epazote leaves?
That, in itself, makes it more difficult for us to pair each herb/spice with a particular dish.
 
The basic three of Indonesian cooking are definitely a favorite of mine : garlic, ginger and chillies go well together with almost any meat and rice dish. Many more but I can't possibly name them all.

I also love the combination of garlic, lemon, black pepper, rosemary and thyme for white meats.

My personal favorite mix for potatoes however is garlic, smoked paprika, fresh rosemary, some lemon zest, grated black pepper and sea salt.

I love basil and oregano in any tomato sauce too.

For spicy tuna sushi and as a rice topping I also love Shichimi togarashi : it is a Japanese spice blend consisting of chilli flakes, yuzu zest, seaweed and roasted sesame seeds.

For sweet dishes I love a combo of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg on things like apple pie and pear tart.
 
karadekoolaid said:
My instinct tells me that tarragon and sage are both pretty dominant flavours, so I´d probably just give it a go.
Tarragon has a distinct aniseed flavour, whereas sage tends towards sweet. Give it a go and see whether they compliment, or clash with each other.
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Yeah, I didn't want to mess around and screw up my root vegetables dish so I didn't go for the sage. I stuck with what I knew worked.
 
I've given this some though since this thread and I can't remember a combination of herbs that didn't work to some degree but nor would I suspect something doesn't work until I tried, but saying that I haven't tried every combination of herbs with every ingredient on earth, so.....lol I might be wrong. The exception for me is lavender, that is like a sleeping giant waiting to pounce when woken up.
 
Morning Glory said:
Have you used it in savoury or sweet (or both)?
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Both. I have to admit I'm intimidated by lavender because it's undone many recipes in the development stage. it's probably one of the most polarizing ingredients I've used. I remember making a lavender sauce for a lamb dish many years ago and I thought it was pretty damn good but my customers said otherwise and took it off the menu.
 
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