In the past, the range of edible herbs and the number of ways of using them was much greater than today. However, with a fresh interest in the culinary arts, herbs are now enjoying a revival. They enliven any dish, snack or drink and can also supply extra nutrition to everyday meals, as many herbs, such as parsley, watercress and comfrey, contain a small but rich balance of vitamins, minerals and trace elements.

Fresh herbs will keep for several days in the refrigerator if you wrap the stems in damp kitchen paper and put them in an airtight container, or in a polythene bag blown up like a balloon and fastened round the neck with a rubber band or twist.

Freezing herbs retains colour and flavour as well as most of the nutritive value of fresh young leaves. The easiest way to freeze herbs is to pack them into plastic bags and label, either singly or in mixtures such as bouquet garni. Alternatively, put finely chopped leaves into ice-cube trays and top up with water. One average cube holds one tablespoon (15 ml) of chopped herb and one tablespoon (15 ml) of water - a convenient quantity for cooking.

The bay tree was sacred to Apollo, the Greek god of prophecy, poetry and healing. His prophecies were communicated through his priestess at Delphi, who, among other rituals, ate a bay leaf before expounding her oracle. As bay leaves are slightly narcotic in large doses, they may have may induced her trance state.

Apollo's temple at Delphi had its roof made entirely of bay leaves for protection against disease, witchcraft and lightning. A wreath of bay leaves became the mark of excellence for poets and athletes and, to the Romans, bay was a symbol of wisdom and glory. The Latin laurus means "laurel" and nobilis "renowned". Bay has been used against disease, especially the plague, for many centuries.

This North American native became a popular garden and tisane plant in Europe after settlers sent back seed. The name Monarda honours the Spanish medical botanist Dr Nicholas Monardes of Seville, who wrote his herbal on the flora of America in 1569. He probably called this herb bergamot because its leaf scent resembles that of the Italian bergamot orange, which produces the oil used in aromatherapy and cosmetics. Bergamot became a popular tea substitute in New England after the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Several Indian tribes used wild bergamot for colds.

Definitely a herb with a pedigree, caraway has been found in the remains of Stone Age meals, Egyptian tombs, and ancient caravan stops along the Silk Road. The Arabic word for the seed, karawya, gives us the present name. In Shakespeare's Henry IV, Falstaff is offered a "pippin (apple) and dish of caraways", this being a traditional finish to an Elizabethan feast. Caraway has been popular in Germany, and when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, Britain renewed its interest in his favourite seed. Such an ancient herb is not without its magical properties. Caraway was believed to be able to prevent departures, so it was used in love potions.

In the past, the modest chervil has often been overlooked. It now enjoys increasing popularity as people discover its special delicate parsley-like flavour with a hint of myrrh

Chives were recorded 4,000 years ago in China and appreciated there by the traveller Marco Polo. He reported their culinary virtues to the West, where they rapidly became indispensable. Chinese chives have a garlic flavour, and the Chinese grow several forms: one for its leaves; one, 'Tenderpole', for its long-stemmed flower buds - good stir fried or as a garnish; and one to blanch (using clay pots or straw "tents" to produce yellow, sweetly flavoured bundles). These blanched chives are featured in a popular meal available on trains and street stalls in China: little finger-length pieces are served with rice and slivers of pork, often in pre-packed containers with chopsticks.

Cultivated as a medicinal and culinary herb for at least 3,000 years, coriander is mentioned in Sanskrit texts, on Egyptian papyri, in Tales of the Arabian Nights, and in the Bible, where manna is compared with coriander seed.

Coriander was brought to northern Europe by the Romans, who, combining it with cumin and vinegar, rubbed it into meat as a preservative. The Chinese once believed it conferred immortality, and in the Middle Ages it was put into love potions as an aphrodisiac. All coriander parts have a pungent aroma; one Peruvian tribe is so fond of the leaf that they exude its scent. That of the mildly narcotic seed changes considerably when it ripens to a sweet spicy flavour.

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and dill and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law" (Matthew 23 v 23). This biblical reference shows that herbs had a high and sufficiently stable value to be used as tax payment. Well before that, the ancient Egyptians had recorded dill as a soothing medicine, and the Greeks knew "dill stayeth the hickets" (hiccups). During the Middle Ages, it was one of St John's Eve herbs to be prized as protection against witchcraft.

Magicians used dill in their spells, while lesser mortals infused it in wine to enhance passion. Early settlers took dill to North America, where it became known as "meetin'seed", because children were given dill seed to chew during long sermons.

Fennel is one of our oldest cultivated plants and was much valued by the Romans. "So gladiators fierce and rude; mingled it with their daily food. And he who battled and subdued; a wreath of fennel wore" (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow). In an age of banquets, Roman warriors took fennel to keep in good health, while Roman ladies ate it to prevent obesity. Every part of the plant, from the seed to the root, is edible. It was one of the nine herbs held sacred by the Anglo-Saxons for its power against evil. With healing properties also to its credit, Charlemagne declared in AD 812 that fennel was essential in every imperial garden.

Lemon balm, it was believed, could completely revive a man and the London Dispensary, in 1696, claimed: "Balm, given every morning, will renew youth, strengthen the brain and relieve languishing nature."

In the thirteenth century, Llewelyn, Prince of Glamorgan, regularly took lemon balm tea and lived to be 108, while John Hussey of Sydenham, lived to be 116 after 50 years of breakfasting on the same infusion, laced with honey. Its virtue of dispelling melancholy has long been praised by herbal writers and it is still used today in aromatherapy to counter depression.

In Greek mythology, Minthe was a nymph beloved by Pluto, who transformed her into this scented herb after his jealous wife took drastic action. Mint has been highly esteemed ever since, its value being epitomized by biblical references to the Pharisees collecting tithes in mint, dill and cumin. The Hebrews laid it on synagogue floors, and this idea was repeated centuries later in Italian churches.

Mint as a symbol of hospitality is mentioned by the Roman poet Ovid, who wrote of two peasants, Baucis and Philemon, who scoured their serving board with mint before feeding guests. Gerard enlarged on this theme in 1597, "they use it to strew in places of recreation, pleasure and repose, where feasts and banquets are made". The Romans also used mint to flavour wines and sauces. However, when women who drank wine were threatened with death, secret drinkers would mask their breath by chewing a paste of mint and honey.

Many mint varieties had been introduced into Europe by the ninth century. A monk writing during this time said that there were so many he would rather count the sparks of Vulcan's furnace.

The Greeks have given us the legends and the name of this ancient culinary herb; oros ganos, joy-of-the-mountain. Those who have visited Greece, where oregano (wild marjoram) covers the hillsides and scents the summer air, would probably endorse the name. The sweet spicy scent of sweet marjoram was reputedly created by Aphrodite as a symbol of happiness. The Greeks enjoyed its scent after a bath, when marjoram oil was massaged into their foreheads and hair. Even in ancient Egypt, oregano's power to heal was well known. Sweet marjoram was introduced into Europe in the Middle Ages and was in demand by ladies "to put in nosegays, sweet bags and sweet washing waters". Its leaves were also rubbed over heavy oak furniture and floors to give a fragrant polish. In thundery weather, dairymaids would place marjoram by pails of fresh milk in the curious belief that this plant would preserve its sweetness. This task might well have been followed by marjoram tea - advised by the herbalist Gerard for those who "are given to overmuch sighing".

Held in high esteem by the Greeks, parsley was used to crown victors at the Isthmian Games and to decorate tombs, being linked with Archemorus, the herald of death. The Greeks also planted parsley and rue along the edges of herb beds, but, although they used parsley medicinally, and Homer recorded that warriors fed parsley to their horses, it appears that the Romans were the first to use it as a food. They consumed parsley in quantity and made garlands for banquet guests to discourage intoxication and to counter strong odours.

There are many excellent parsley varieties, including Hamburg parsley (P c tuberosum). This has flat leaves and a large, edible, well-flavoured root. All parsleys are rich in vitamins, minerals and antiseptic chlorophyll, making it a beneficial as well as attractive garnishing herb.

Rosemary, "dew of the sea" holds a special place in the affections of many as the essence of a summer herb garden. It has been used by cooks and apothecaries from earliest times. With a reputation for strengthening the memory, it soon became the emblem of fidelity for lovers.

In times past, resinous rosemary was burned in sick chambers to purify the air and branches were strewn in law courts as a protection from "gaol fever". During the plague, it was carried in neck pouches to be sniffed when travelling through suspicious areas. In some Mediterranean villages, linen is spread over rosemary to dry, so the sun will extract its moth-repellent aroma. Rosemary also makes a good garden hedge.

Apart from common rosemary, there are several named varieties, including a vigorous new upright form, 'Sawyer's Selection', with large, mauve-blue flowers, which can reach 8 ft (2.5 m) within three years. There is a variable gold-tipped form, and ancient texts mention a silver variegated form.