FoodwedsHerbs: Pat Reveals Food Secrets

Herb or Erb?

You say 'Erb and I say Herb...let's call the whole thing off.

I get this question all the time. And people are serious about the whole issue.

It's Erb if you are French. They drop all their hayches. But if you speak English, would you say I'm going Ome? Well you might, if you lived within earshot of the Bow bells but that's beside the point. And what are the bow bells anyway?

I think this whole Erb thing came about with the American fascination with all things French. After all, its Cuisinart food processor in America and in France it's MagiMix. The food terminology is always more interesting on the other side of the pond?

Anyway, I sort of flip back and forth, using Erb after the word 'an'. So I might say,

Plant the Herb Sweet Cicily early because it is an Erb of Spring.