Dried sage - and dried herbs in general. Well fresh sage too.
"The market has now six basic end-consumers: the traditional home buyer, restaurants, caterers, manufacturers, processors, and re-packers. Whilst culinary herbs in the form of fresh bunches still go to the first three outlets, product in fresh bulk, frozen and dried forms go to the latter three as well as to caterers."
Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (Australia)
This began as a simple moan on my part at not being able to find any dried sage in the supermarket the other day. There was ground sage but not dried. And there was also fresh. I can't even remember why I wanted it. So I thought I would ponder on the potential disappearance of dried herbs from the supermarket shelves. But (a) I seem to have been quite wrong about the disappearance of dried herbs - well, sort of, and (b) I learnt a few intriguing things, some of which I should have thought of, and some of which were a surprise. It was an interesting browse of the net, and taught me that sometimes I'm just not putting in the right search terms.
What I thought might be happening was the gradual replacement of dried herbs with fresh herbs - mostly grown in those massive greenhouse farms - with dried herbs being increasingly replaced by dried and whole spices and spice mixtures. And in spite of some of the evidence which I shall come to, I do think that this is actually a trend. For the consumer anyway. It seems to me that when you peruse the jars of dried herbs and spices in the supermarket, the majority are spices and spice mixes - particularly the latter. And there is an increasing range of fresh herbs available to buy, either in actual bunches - in the market - or in plastic containers or sleeves - in the supermarket. Then there's those that are somewhere in between fresh and dried, appearing to be sort of chopped and liquidised somehow. But I have never bought any of these so cannot comment.
According to the experts this interest in herbs has arisen because of an increased interest in ethnic foods - encouraged by television cooking programs, magazines and the influx of immigrants who open restaurants featuring their cuisines. I'm talking about home cooks here - those who cook these dishes at home and who mostly use the spices you buy in the jars and the fresh herbs. But there is another driver - lack of time and interest in cooking from scratch which leads to all of those partially cooked and marinated meats and all those frozen and chilled 'meals'. Those generally use the dried herbs.
"Urbanization and fast growing lifestyle have made people use ready to eat dishes, and it is the key driver of the market. Individual's attraction towards new flavors and delicacies is also expected to drive the global market during the forecast period" Transparency Market Research
The Transparency Market Research report (badly written by the way - I think it is an Indian company), was looking at a period from 2017 to 2025. And an Australian report for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation rather
appallingly said that whilst 99% of fresh herbs sold in Australia were grown here, 99% of dried herbs were imported and moreover people don't care where they come from.
All of the reports I found suggested that the market for dried and fresh herbs and spices was actually growing. But not just because of their use in food. Transparency Market Research summed this up - in poor English but succinctly and made me realise that, once again, I had not taken into account the bigger picture:
"Dried herbs market is envisioned to boost in the future because of its multiple uses in food and beverages, medical remedies, cosmetics and personal care."
"On the basis of end user, dried herbs market is segmented into food & beverages, bakeries, dairy products, snacks and fast food chains. Dried herb is used in snacks and dairy products as a flavor and has a good demand in the market which is expected to driver of the market. Use of dried herbs in flavored drinks and beverages are supporting the demand of the dried herb market. Herb tea is also got a good demand."
I had completely forgotten about all those herbal teas, and the medicinal/herbal stuff - the massive trade in aromatherapy, and herbal cures. Not to mention the additives. How could I have forgotten this? And sage is one of the products at the forefront of all the health thing. Ever since the Romans, who took it everywhere with them, sage has been highly esteemed for curing just about everything and in particular keeping you young.
"Why should a man die who has sage in his garden?" Proverb
It's very name in latin is salvere which means 'to be in good health'. These days they have found that it really is an antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory and may be useful in the treatment of Alzheimers. The more wacky practitioners out there will use it for many other things, including depression and digestive problems. And did you know about smudging?
"Smudging has been used by many cultures across the world to clear away negative energies. It involves the burning of sacred herbs to produce smoke. This smoke is used to cleanse the energy of your home, workplace or even your body." Eartharomas
(Apologies for the 'Shop Now' in the photograph - I couldn't eliminate it easily. Eartharomas has a web page dedicated to the subject of smudging which exhorts you to:
So there you go - in spite of my thinking that dried herbs are disappearing (well I still can't find sage) - it's actually a booming industry. A bit like salt and sugar. In fact dried herbs are increasingly being used as substitutes for salt in some of those processed products on the supermarket shelf.
You can grow your own of course. And I have indeed tried to grow sage a few times. Sometimes it grows, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it gets eaten by something - to my sister the gardener's great surprise. She didn't think anything would eat sage. Well the rapacious animals of Eltham did. And you can dry your own - which, of course is so much better than buying it anyway.
Or there are specialist producers or 'organic' dried herbs. Or you can get them in French markets, and probably some farmers' markets here.
Aren't they beautiful? Which reminds me that another report I found stated that one of the next big things will be fresh and dried - mostly dried - flowers.
Sage itself has its fans - mostly the Italians - and its detractors (Elizabeth David).
""Of that very English herb sage I have very little to say except that… it seems to me to be altogether too blatant, and used far too much; its all-pervading presence in stuffings and sausages is perhaps responsible for the distaste for herbs which many English people feel."" Elizabeth David
"Like rosemary it can be a most treacherous herb, overpowering and spoiling the flavour of the food with which it is cooked." Elizabeth David
"It deadens the food with its musty, dried blood scent." Elizabeth David
Though to be fair to her, she is quite right. You should never use too much sage, particularly the dried variety. It has quite an overpowering taste. Which is why you will find that most chefs recommend using it with strong-flavoured meats, such as pork and game, anchovies, liver and lemon. The Italians use it a lot, particularly by frying the leaves in butter until crisp and using as a sauce for various pasta dishes. The English love it too:
"With its alluring, downy, grey-green leaves and lingering depth of flavour, it's hard to resist the pungent appeal of sage. Along with parsley, it's perhaps the herb we've leant on most heavily in English cookery to give a savoury punch to stews, sausages and stuffings. Long before our dalliance with basil, coriander and chervil, sage stole our hearts and starred in some of our favourite dishes." Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
So I learnt a few things today about sage and the dried and fresh herb market. More than I was expecting I think. For innovative ways to use sage, just google it or go to your favourite innovative cooks. I'm sure they will have something of interest.
