One way to completely improve your recipe is to include herbs. If you appreciate herbs in your dishes, you must have used or heard about fines herbes or herbes de Provence. But what do you know about these two?
Is fines herbes the same as herbes de Provence?
We have prepared this post to discuss the difference between fines herbes and herbes de Provence. Stick around for a detailed comparison.
An Overview
Before we discuss the difference between these two, let’s look at them individually.
What is Fines Herbes
This is a delicate herb mixture. It is mainly used because of its ability to give a subtle elegance to almost any recipe. You can use it for poultry dishes, cooked eggs, salads, and more. You can choose to enjoy it uncooked if you prefer.
To make this mixture, it is preferred that you use fresh herbs. However, dried herbs can also work when you do not have access to fresh herbs.
What is Herbes de Provence?
Herbes de Provence is also an important part of French cuisine. It is an aromatic blend of Provencal spices and herbs. It is from Southern France.
There are different ways to use Herbes de Provence, which includes seasoning meats and vegetables. People often confuse herbes de Provence and mixed herbs. Just to be clear, the difference between herbes de Provence and mixed herbs is the list of ingredients used in making it.
Can I use mixed herbs instead of herbes de Provence? The truth is, no herb blend cannot be used to replace herbes de Provence. So, yes. You can use mixed herbes as a substitute.
Difference between Fines Herbes and Herbes de Provence
Now, let’s see how these two compare.
First, these two are classic blends of herbs that have somewhat similar ingredients. However, each has a different main herb that allows the rest of the herbs to produce certain notes in the background.
Fines herbes is made with some fresh herbs. However, herbes de Provence is made using dried herbes. Additionally, fines herbes can be more subdued but herbes de Provence is not. Instead, herbes de Provence features herbs that produce a certain punch. That includes oregano, thyme, as well as rosemary.
Another difference to note is that they are used in different ways in recipes. Fines herbes is normally added to a recipe towards the end, while herbes de Provence is preferably used at the beginning.
The four herbs used in fines herbes provide a certain flavor when put together. They have a certain freshness that is also delicate. The chives and parsley give it a certain brightness. Tarragon, on the other hand, gives a licorice note, and chervil gives you a certain taste similar to tarragon and parsley put together.
Rosemary and thyme are the dominant flavors in herbes de Provence. But there are other herbs such as marjoram, basil, savory, bay leaf, fennel, and chervil. Nowadays, you will find that lavender is included in the mixture to give it a unique flavor.
Conclusion
As you can see, these two are different from each other. They are made in different manners in recipes and they have different combinations of herbs. The flavors are also different from each other.
