Purchase

Look for young, sprightly, bright-coloured leaves with no wilting, slime, or yellowing.

Storage

 

Dill weed tends to spoil quickly because the leaves are fine and feathery. The whole seeds have a long shelf life if kept away from strong light.

Culinary Use

• Although typically overlooked in French and Italian cooking, which favour fennel, dill is widely used in Russian, German, Scandinavian, and American cooking.

• Dill seeds are invariably found in jars of pickled cucumbers.

• Crushed dill seeds marry well with almost all fish dishes.

  • Add a little to a creamy sauce for a fish pie.

  • Stir some into thick yogurt with a teaspoon of chopped chives and serve sauce with grilled fresh salmon or cod fillet.

• Dill is also good with egg dishes such as egg mayonnaise.

• Use dill vinegar or crushed seeds to make a dressing for a mixed seafood salad, coleslaw or potato salad, adding a few feathery leaves as a garnish.

  • Dill vinegar is easy to make at home. Place 30 ml dill seeds in a small preserving jar. Top up with white wine vinegar and close lid. Leave the vinegar in a cool dark place for 2 to 3 weeks, then strain and use in salad dressings and sauces.

• Flavour home-made bread with dill to serve with vegetable soups, such as carrot or tomato soup.