Dill is one of the most commonly used spices in European cuisine. Not only the dill herb and the tender dill tips can be used for seasoning purposes, the brown dill seeds also give many dishes a special flavor.
How can I process and preserve dill?
Dill can be processed by preparing dill oil, in which dill tips, bay leaves and peppercorns are soaked in rapeseed oil, or by making dill vinegar by soaking dill twigs and dill seeds in white wine vinegar to increase taste and shelf life.
Harvest dill from our own cultivation and process it fresh
In raised beds or greenhouses, dill (Anethum graveolens) is usually planted in rows because it requires little care in a suitable location and naturally protects many vegetables from pests. For your own use in the kitchen, the dill can also be sown in a pot on a sunny balcony. This means you can harvest the young dill tips fresh whenever you need them in the kitchen. Since dill is an annual plant, you can harvest the entire plant in the fall. Please note, however, that the filigree shoots of the dill can often become uncomfortably hard from the time the dill blooms.
Process the dill yourself into dill oil
Since fresh dill can only be stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of one to three weeks, even when wrapped in damp cloths, it is a good idea to process already cut dill into intermediate products such as dill oil. To prepare it you need the following ingredients:
- an empty bottle
- some dill tips or some dill weed
- a few bay leaves
- Peppercorns
- Rapeseed oil
Put the dill together with the bay leaves and peppercorns in an empty bottle and pour the rapeseed oil up to the brim. Let the mixture steep for about three weeks before straining the oil and using it to enhance the flavor of fish dishes and cucumber salad.
Make dill vinegar yourself
By preparing dill vinegar, the delicately spicy aroma of dill can be preserved and used to round off the taste of delicious salads. To do this, put four to six dill sprigs and a teaspoon of dill seeds in a bottle along with white wine vinegar. Expose the mixture to sunlight in a warm place for about two weeks before straining out dill sprigs and seeds. When filled into a bottle that has been rinsed with boiling water, the dill vinegar will keep for up to six months if stored in a dark place.
Tips & Tricks
Always process cut dill as soon as possible, as it always loses its taste and quality when stored unprocessed.
