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I always thought that you should not crush dried herbs in your hand Because you didn’t wanna lose any of the flavor. In the Forks Over knives course they recommend that you crush the herbs prior to adding them to your cooking. What are your thoughts?

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Eric Wynkoop - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Recorded

This event was on March 21, 2023

Join Chef Eric Wynkoop in his virtual office as he welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to Ask Anything – from cooking techniques to course-specific questions, to how to turn your cooking passion into profit or simply hearing the perspective of a professional chef, Chef Eric is ready to answer them all.

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Question

Mary Gerstein

I always thought that you should not crush dried herbs in your hand Because you didn’t wanna lose any of the flavor. In the Forks Over knives course they recommend that you crush the herbs prior to adding them to your cooking. What are your thoughts?

Answer

You know, either way it's not a big deal. It's not it's not a a deal breaker or a game changer in my opinion. The reason why someone might Crush dried herbs is if they're a little bit on the big side because let's say whole leaves were dried and you want to break those up into smaller pieces whether for you know, a visual aesthetic reason or maybe you want to increase the surface area in order to draw out flavor faster in that liquid medium to which you're adding the herbs. So I think there are definitely reasons why you might choose to do that. But if you prefer simply to use the whole dried leaves, that's fine as well that becomes a personal decision. Try them both ways and see how you like it. Thank you.

Eric Wynkoop

Director of Culinary Instruction

Eric Wynkoop previously served as a founding faculty member at The International Culinary School, instructor in anthropology at Portland State University, and Senior Instructor at the Le Cordon Bleu program at Western Culinary Institute, in Portland, Oregon. He holds Master’s Degrees in postsecondary education and cultural anthropology, as well as credentials in Ayurveda wellness and cooking. Eric has spent more than twenty years in the food and beverage industry. His experiences include banquet management, catering, personal chef, winery cellar hand, educator, textbook contributor, consultant, and ethnographer. He also brings food and cultural insight from nearly a decade of residence in Japan, studies in Mexico, and research in India as a Fulbright Scholar. After graduating from the University of Oregon with a dual degree in Japanese and Asian Studies, he went on to receive his formal culinary training at Western Culinary Institute, in Portland, Oregon. Eric’s role with Rouxbe is central to enhancing the student experience through quality course content and new course development at Rouxbe. Eric is also the lead instructor in Rouxbe courses, a role which he has enjoyed since 2016.