Lemongrass and Lemon Myrtle
Lemongrass is an ingredient which lends authenticity and fresh flavour to many of our favourite south-east Asian foods. In that case, why would we make a decision to delete lemongrass from our range at Herbie’s Spices? Well, it’s a sad fact that lemongrass just doesn’t dry very well. We originally had a dried lemongrass that was finely chopped pieces from the green part of the leaf, and when we discovered during a trip to India that we could access freeze-dried lemongrass, made from the creamy-coloured base of the stem, we were delighted to make the change. Sadly, our hopes of finding a better, more palatable product did not match the reality. We are happy with the flavours of our Thai and Green Curry mixes, however they had a less-than-pleasant residue of something which, although vaguely lemon-flavoured, resembled oaten chaff. At Herbie’s, our policy is always that we would rather be out of stock than carry an inferior product, so you’ll find that all remaining stock of lemongrass has been discarded.
We shall still be on the lookout for better quality lemongrass, and if we find any that we consider worthy of the Herbie’s brand, it will be back on our shelves and in our Asian blends again.
We are lucky to have an Australian native, lemon myrtle, which was unknown in Asia when the cuisines of that region were developing. Lemon myrtle has an intensely lemony flavour and fragrance, and by re-working our recipes for the Thai and Green Curry blends to allow lemon myrtle to do the job of lemongrass, we have vastly improved on the originals. The new blends are already in store, and we hope you will try them and enjoy the difference!