Thyme

Dried thyme smells woody and faintly floral, with a dry mint edge underneath. The flavor is savory and a little peppery, more restrained than oregano and slower to fade in a long simmer. Crushed between your fingers, the leaves release a resinous scent that carries through braising liquid, stock, and anything roasted long enough to brown.

It belongs in slow cooking. Add it early to bean pots, lentil soup, beef stew, and tomato sauce that will sit on the heat an hour or more. Rub it into chicken skin with salt and olive oil before roasting. Scatter it over potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms headed for a hot oven. It works in bread dough, in butter for pan sauces, in vinaigrette, and in the flour you dredge cutlets through. A pinch steeped in cream makes a good base for a mushroom gratin.

Start with half a teaspoon for a pot serving four, then taste and add more near the end if the flavor has softened. Dried thyme is stronger by volume than fresh, so use about a third of what a recipe calls for in fresh sprigs. Keep the jar closed, away from the stove, and out of direct light. Heat and steam dull it fast. Stored in a cool cupboard, it holds its aroma for about a year, longer if the leaves are whole rather than powdered.

• 1.2 oz (34g): enough for a few months of weeknight roasting and soup for one or two people.
• 14 oz (397g): a working jar for anyone who cooks most nights, bakes bread, or makes stock in quantity.
• 53 oz (1503g): built for a restaurant line, a bakery, or a cook who mixes their own rubs and blends by the quart.
• Decant large sizes into a smaller jar for daily reach and keep the bulk container sealed.
• Whole leaf keeps better than ground, so crush only what you need.

If your rack holds one woody herb, this is the one that goes into the most pots.