The cupboard
Kitchen herbs & spices
Filter by element or search a plant. Traditional kitchen and folk use — four tastes, not a clinic monograph.
31 plants
Ginger
Zingiber officinale
The stillroom’s first answer to a cold belly or a coming chill.
Nausea · Indigestion · Chill & congestion
Warm, move, and stimulate
Cayenne
Capsicum annuum
A pinch that sends heat to the rim of the body.
Chill & congestion · Cold hands & sluggish blood · Stiff joints
Warm, move, and stimulate
Black pepper
Piper nigrum
The everyday spark that makes other spices land.
Indigestion · Chill & congestion · Cold hands & sluggish blood
Warm, move, and stimulate
Cinnamon
Cinnamomum verum
Bark that smells like a warmed cupboard and acts like a slow fire.
Indigestion · Chill & congestion · Cold hands & sluggish blood
Warm, move, and stimulate
Clove
Syzygium aromaticum
A bud used for a toothache and a winter pot alike.
Indigestion · Chill & congestion · Sore throat
Warm, move, and stimulate
Turmeric
Curcuma longa
The golden kitchen root of sore winters.
Stiff joints · Chill & congestion · Indigestion
Warm, move, and stimulate
Rosemary
Salvia rosmarinus
Remembrance in a needle — a head herb as much as a roast herb.
Dull focus · Headache · Cold hands & sluggish blood
Warm, move, and stimulate
Thyme
Thymus vulgaris
The chest herb that already lives in the spice jar.
Cough · Chill & congestion · Sore throat
Warm, move, and stimulate
Garlic
Allium sativum
The house charm that also went into the broth.
Chill & congestion · Cold hands & sluggish blood · Sore throat
Warm, move, and stimulate
Sage
Salvia officinalis
A bitter leaf for a raw throat and a damp mouth.
Sore throat · Cough · Chill & congestion
Warm, move, and stimulate
Bay
Laurus nobilis
The soup leaf that quietly warms a heavy pot.
Indigestion · Bloating · Chill & congestion
Warm, move, and stimulate
Star anise
Illicium verum
One star that perfumes a whole pot of broth or tea.
Cough · Bloating · Chill & congestion
Ground, build, and settle
Holy basil
Ocimum tenuiflorum
Tulsi — the daily cup for a long, demanding season.
Frayed nerves · Chill & congestion · Dull focus
Ground, build, and settle
Lemon
Citrus limon
The bright slice that finishes almost every stillroom cup.
Chill & congestion · Indigestion · Sore throat
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Rosehip
Rosa canina
The autumn fruit of the rose — a sour pantry vitamin.
Chill & congestion · Hollow energy · Irritable skin
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Elderflower
Sambucus nigra
The June flower given at the first flush of a feverish cold.
Feverish & flushed · Chill & congestion · Cough
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Horseradish
Armoracia rusticana
A white fire in the root — it opens a closed head like a door kicked in.
Closed sinuses · Cough · Chill & congestion
Warm, move, and stimulate
Mullein
Verbascum thapsus
The roadside torch — a lung leaf that coats and then lets the chest move.
Cough · Chill & congestion · Dryness
Mineralize, soothe, and restore fluid
Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
The wound-wort and fever herb of the yard.
Feverish & flushed · Crampy cycle · Chill & congestion
Warm, move, and stimulate
Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum
The breakbone-fever herb — named for the ache, not for knitting bone.
Feverish & flushed · Chill & congestion · Stiff joints
Warm, move, and stimulate
Elderberry
Sambucus nigra
The deeper winter face of elder — a sour syrup on the pantry shelf.
Chill & congestion · Cough · Feverish & flushed
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Echinacea
Echinacea purpurea
The first-shiver cone-flower — a short, purposeful bitter.
Chill & congestion · Sore throat · Feverish & flushed
Warm, move, and stimulate
Horehound
Marrubium vulgare
The old cough bitter — tastes like a dare, then the chest moves.
Cough · Chill & congestion · Sore throat
Warm, move, and stimulate
Elecampane
Inula helenium
A deep, camphor-bitter root for a chest that will not clear.
Cough · Chill & congestion · Indigestion
Warm, move, and stimulate
Hyssop
Hyssopus officinalis
A resinous garden bitter for a tight, damp chest.
Cough · Chill & congestion · Sore throat
Warm, move, and stimulate
Mustard seed
Brassica juncea
A kitchen fire for the chest plaster and the pot.
Chill & congestion · Cough · Stiff joints
Warm, move, and stimulate
Onion
Allium cepa
The everyday fire in the bin — broth, syrup, and a chest poultice.
Cough · Chill & congestion · Sore throat
Warm, move, and stimulate
Angelica
Angelica archangelica
A tall bitter-aromatic of the garden — protection in the old notes, a belly fire in the pot.
Indigestion · Chill & congestion · Bloating
Warm, move, and stimulate
Lemon thyme
Thymus citriodorus
Garden thyme with a lemon rind — roast herb and a bright steam.
Cough · Chill & congestion · Sore throat
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Oswego tea
Monarda didyma
Bee balm — the bergamot mint that was a cupboard tea.
Chill & congestion · Feverish & flushed · Closed sinuses
Brighten, circulate, and clear
Sweet goldenrod
Solidago odora
The goldenrod you can drink — anise in a late-summer leaf.
Indigestion · Chill & congestion
Ground, build, and settle