French Seasonings

Herbs, Spices, and Salts

This collection of French seasonings includes many indispensable items on the French pantry shelf. If you keep these seasonings on hand, you'll always be ready to cook up something French.

French Sea Salt

French sea salt is really something special. It has a wonderful melt in your mouth effect with no burning sensation. If you try it, you'll never want to go back to table salt. You can learn more about French sea salt here.

French Herbs

The French use many different herbs, both dried and fresh, in their cooking. Many of these you are probably already familiar with: herbs such as oregano, rosemary, and thyme. Other herbs are a bit more unusual for many cooks, but nonetheless quite common in French cooking. You might like to consider trying some of these:

• Tarragon
• Chervil
• Savory
• Lavender
• Sage

Special mention for herbes de Provence: There is one jar of French herbs in my kitchen that I buy in the jumbo size and that is herbes de Provence. This is a wonderful mix of different herbs that can go into just about anything. Even if you are missing the particular herb called for in a French recipe, you can most times quite satisfactorily substitute with an equivalent amount of this mix. Learn more about herbs de Provence here.

French Spices

In general, traditional French food is not very spicy. This has to do with a desire to let the natural good taste of the food shine through and not cover it up with overwhelming flavors. The French do use spices to cook with, just in smaller quantities then what you may be used to. (Many people who visit France for a while find themselves craving something spicy, and many French people would respond that this is evidence that their taste buds have become lazy with too much over stimulation.)

Return to French Foods.