Organic dill pollen. Raised on a small farm in Silang, Cavite and harvested by hand. WHAT A TREAT! This little vial of golden dill pollen possesses the concentrated aroma of so many dozen sprigs of dill. One whiff of the open bottle and you just know this is going to be a wonderful addition to one’s arsenal of ingredients. I had mentioned dill pollen to Gejo of Kitchen Herbs Farm several months ago when I visited his farm, so I was pleased he had gone to the laborious process of harvesting and bottling the pollen, and honored to be one of the first recipients. Again, as I always wish when new products such as these become available, I hope that consumers and chefs take note and support these efforts to broaden our range of ingredients that are locally produced.
Used in most dishes where you might use dill sprigs, this is best sprinkled on a dish just before serving, adding an intense aroma and flavor of dill. Here I sprinkle dill pollen on about half a knob of butter, and when the butter softens I mix and use on chicken, fish or vegetables…
I suppose the dill pollen can be dried and stored for a longer period (on-line sites have them on offer for a princely sum). But for now, will have to dream up a couple of uses for the dill pollen in the next few days or so. Thanks Gejo for sending this over. If you own a small organic farm near Manila and grow unusual produce items that are sold or delivered to Manila, consider this Marketman’s open invitation to try out your produce as I am always thrilled to discover new things. I will pay for the ingredients, as long as they are conveniently available in the city. And who knows, I might even feature it on the blog so lots of other foodies get to hear about them. :)
18 Responses
New potatoes and sour cream with dill is a great accompaniment for steak. How did you hear about this dill pollen? I have only heard of generic pollen as a sort of health nut supplement, you know, a limp precursor of the blue pill.
Footloose, fennel and dill pollen have been making a buzz for a while now, mostly among chefs in the fancier places… :) And funny you should mention sour cream, I had planned to do some cucumbers with sour cream, dill and dill pollen for lunch or dinner today…
or…brush it on grilled salmon and squeeze a little lemon with boiled rapini on the side.
learning new things again…thanks!!!! blue pill, eh???
Fantastic! I have read about fennel pollen and never dreamed something similar would be available here. Does he offer it already? I visited Mercato Centrale for the first time last weekend but at 7-7:30am the produce stalls were still not all up, so I might have missed his table there. The Market though is very near me so I will look for his herbs there. I always find champion purveyors here at your site :) Thank you!
i thought it was tofu=)
that first photo is great! never thought you could use dill pollen, but dill flowers make great additions to flower arrangements..fragrant, too! some local florists use them.
Just watched Jamie Oliver whip up some potato salad. Time to take that dill pollen and mix it with potatoes and capers! Yum. I can imagine some bacon on top too.
How about dill pollen infused olive oil or white wine vinegar?
Good for home cured Gravlax
Dill sprigs including the lower stems of the herb are preferred in curing salmon for the classic gravlax here in Scandinavia as the quantity of the dill has a bearing on the result. A huge bunch with lots of sprigs is ideal. Fresh dill is quite expensive here and when in season (may-june) we buy a large bunch when we see good quality (the “needles” are dark and long), separate the sprigs from the stems and freeze them. Great for gravlax-making and the accompanying sauce.
Aside from looking very pretty in a flower arrangement, dill blossoms are mainly used here for cooking “kräftor” or crayfish. The blossoms do impart that distinct dill flavour which goes so well with crayfish.
Chopped fresh dill sprigs are often mixed with creme fraiche and a bit of dijon mustard to liven up shrimp open sandwiches.
Perhaps you can infuse some oil with the pollen – almond oil? walnut oil?
Oh, gosh I did not know this is so precious. I have a little square foot plot for herbs and dill and rosemary are growing profusely. The dill “bush” is really overgrown and has been neglected. It flowers so much and they just die, leaving the pollen on the soil. Thanks again for this post, I did not know I can harvest them.
hmmm…. I think the reason this is expensive is because:
A. Like Saffron, they are pretty scarce (or not) or…
B. Collecting the stuff is labor intensive.
I heard that you’d also have to dehydrate these but I bet you get a big BANG for every buck you spend on this ingredient! :)
Hey, MM! I love the bowl! Where’d you get it?
This is so special. We also have the dill leaves in Eden nature Park, Davao.
Hi MM – what a perfect post! We just came back from our little farm where I have lots and lots of dill growing. Yesterday, for lunch, since I was running out of time, I threw in the oven a few pieces of yellow fin tuna fillets and lots of dill, some rosemary, and olive oil. It came out super delicious! We have never tried using dill before and I was so happy to find use for it. Even my daughter who is on your diet loved it! :). I noticed the fdill lowers and did not realize they can be used as you suggested. I will harvest the dill pollen next week and use them as you suggested :). Recently our gardener pruned the dill shrubs, so I may have to wait for a few more weeks for more flowers and pollen. Will send some your way once I get a lot of harvest. Thanks for this cooking idea again! :)
“If you own a small organic farm near Manila and grow unusual produce items that are sold or delivered to Manila, consider this Marketman’s open invitation to try out your produce as I am always thrilled to discover new things. I will pay for the ingredients, as long as they are conveniently available in the city. And who knows, I might even feature it on the blog so lots of other foodies get to hear about them. :)” — this is something new. an open invitation. i bet lots of things for you to try out would come on your door step in the coming weeks. :) where can you buy dill seeds ? can you grow them even in just a pot? my wife and i have dreamed of having a “pocket herb garden” for so long now.