HERB - What classes would you like to see?

[Gaylin Walli]

Greetings from the Midrealm this overcast afternoon.

After returning from the Midrealm university topical session on cooking
and brewing, I've decided that something needs to be done.

While well attended, more than other classes, the class that was taught
on herbs and spices at this university session was geared toward the
most basic of beginners. The information was interesting, but for
me at least, it wasn't anything I didn't already know, or that anyone
else could have found by doing a quick web search on "herbs" or
"spices". In fact, very little of the class related to how herbs
and spices were actually used within cooking and brewing during
our time periods.

Much to my dismay, this has been the case of every society-sponsored
herb/spice class I've ever attended. I think there's a clear need for
classes that go beyond the information that can typically
be called "classification" or "encyclopedia" information. Plenty
of books and websites talk about the history of particular herbs
and spices. And more than you or I could count show what a plant
looks like and where it grows. Few books or classes actually address
how spices and herbs were actually used in period or the theories
behind how they were actually used.

What classes can you think of that accomplish this? What classes
have you always wanted to see being taught? What have you always
wanted to know about herbs? Ideas, anyone?

Jasmine

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