Dill seeds are very small and very light. It takes more than 10,000 dill seeds to make an ounce. One tablespoon of dill seed contains more calcium than a cup of milk.
The flavor of the leaves is a mixture of anise, parsley, and celery with a distinctive green bite on the sides of the tongue. The aroma is a clean combination of mint, citrus, and fennel with a touch of sea air.
Native to Southwest Asia and India. Dill has been used the most in cucumber pickles. It was known in ancient Egypt.
Dill is best known for seasoning pickles but is delicious in many recipes for meat, fish and poultry.
The Swedish make a dilly bread and use copious amounts of fresh dill to pickle salmon (gravlax) in a brine of salad oil, sugar, salt, whole white peppercorns, red onion and Cognac.
In Finland they make a buttermilk soup with fresh dill and in Denmark; most open-faced sandwiches are garnished with a sprig of dill. The French use a sprinkling on cakes and breads, but dill is particularly delicious in rye bread used in the same way as caraway.
Dill in cooking
