At the grocery store I’ve seen these squeezable tubes of (what looked apparently like) pastes made from various spices. The ingredients generally said something like “Basil, Canola Oil, Whey, Preservatives.” (There were tubes for other spices, like oregano and cilantro, as well as garlic. Ingredient lists were, to my recollection, the same, except replacing “basil” with the appropriate alternative of course.)
Has anyone tried these?
Do they work better than dried?
It would be nice if these made for a good compromise. I generally like the taste of sauces made from fresh spices a little better–but I hate spending the money on a whole bunch when I’m not even going to use half of it.
Yes, they taste better than dried and almost as good as fresh. But they keep only a little longer than fresh, IME. So I generally prefer to buy fresh and freeze leftovers.
Back to the op. I have lemongrass, cilantro, and dill in the tubes in my fridge. Lemongrass because it is so much more convenient, cilantro because it’s cold and my cilantro plants are dormant, and dill because it is actually cheaper that way.
I have the cilantro paste, and I throw it in the freezer between uses. I don’t feel like going down to check, but I think that was actually recommended on the tube to freeze it if you want it to last more than a week or two. It works just fine for what I need it for, and with no waste.
I tried the basil-in-a-tube once, and didn’t care for the flavor. I decided I’d reserve my basil-intense recipes for the summertime when I could pick a batch from the garden; otherwise, a little clump of overprice store-bought basil was fine for spaghetti and pizza toppings in the wintertime.
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