Cooking Up Stories: Herbs and Spices in Folklore, Myth, and Legend

A Dinner of Herbs
by
George W. Joy
1844-1925

While National  Herb and Spices Day isn’t until June 10 the holiday season finds many of us baking and cooking up a storm. I thought I would share some of these tales now in case you want a taste of some stories to spice up your winter repertories.

Happy holidays one and all! May you be surrounded by those you love and those who love you.

STORIES

The Discovery of Salt – China

http://soupsong.com/fsalt.html

The Dreammaker – Scotland

http://www.katarina-dejan.com/hbd-folk-tales

Epsen Ashlad and Redfoks – Norway

http://oaks.nvg.org/ntales52.html

The Gingerbread Man - England
http://theperfectgingerbreadman.blogspot.com/2010/10/original-gingerbread-man-story.html

Giufa’s Judgement – Italy
https://www.uexpress.com/tell-me-a-story/2011/3/27/giufas-judgment-an-italian-folktale

King’s for Breakfast! - Hindu

http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/004.html

Legend of the Sage Plant
http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-sage-plant.html

Lion Who Took Woman’s Shape – South Africa
http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/saft/sft39.htm

Love Like Salt – Fourteen versions from around the world.

https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/salt.html

The Maiden Who Loved a Star – Native American
http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/se/wsgr/wsgr20.htm

Redfox and Askeladden – Norway (An adapted version of Epsen Ashlad and Redfoks)

https://norwegianfolktales.blogspot.com/2017/05/redfox-and-askeladden.html

Salt - Russia

https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Russian_Folktale_37.html

The Turtle and the Lizard - Philippines

http://www.sacred-texts.com/asia/pft/pft22.htm

Why Dogs Sniff - Portugal

https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Portuguese_folktale_3.html

CRAFTS

5 DIY Decorating Ideas to Deck the Halls (with Herbs!)

https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/winter-decorating-5-easy-beautiful-decorations-to-make-with-herbs-spices

Cinnamon-n-Spice Ornaments Herbal Style

http://mamarosemary.com/blog/2012/12/22/cinnamon-n-spice-ornaments-herb-style

Cinnamon-n-Spice Ornaments Craft Style

http://mamarosemary.com/blog/2012/12/14/cinnamon-n-spice-ornaments-craft-style

Herbal Play Dough

http://mamarosemary.com/blog/2011/10/15/aromatic-playdough

RECIPES

Recipes with Spices and Herbs

https://www.savoryspiceshop.com/recipes

A Taste of Home: 57 Recipes with Fresh Herbs

https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/recipes-with-fresh-herbs/

SOMETHING EXTRA

Granny Sue’s News and Reviews Herbal Legend and Lore: Rosemary, Sage, Fennel and Marjoram

https://grannysu.blogspot.com/2016/05/herbal-legend-and-lore-rosemary-sage.html

Herb Facts for Kids

https://www.scienceforkidsclub.com/herbs.html

Herbal Folktales for Fall – This blog has wonderful information about herbs that would be delightful, educational additions to herbal stories in your repertoire.
https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/herbal-folktales

Herbs in Mythology
http://www.herbsociety-stu.org/herbs-in-mythology.html

Into the Woods: The Folklore of Food by Terri Windling
http://www.terriwindling.com/blog/2014/12/the-folklore-of-food.html

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

Karen Chace 2019 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.