Overview

Lovage is a tall perennial herb in the Apiaceae family, native to southern Europe and western Asia. Its leaves, stems, and roots all carry a strong, savory flavor reminiscent of celery but more intense and slightly yeasty. The plant has been used in European cooking and folk medicine for centuries.

Origin and history

Lovage is native to the Mediterranean region. It spread across Europe through monastic gardens in the Middle Ages and became a common ingredient in English, German, and French cuisines. The name “lovage” derives from the Latin ligusticum, referring to the Liguria region of Italy where it was once abundant [2]. By the 19th century, it was widely cultivated in North America as a garden herb.

Varieties and aliases

  • No named varieties are widely recognized in commercial trade.
  • Regional names include Liebstöckel or Maggi-Kraut (German-speaking countries, for its flavor similarity to Maggi seasoning), love parsley, and sea parsley (though it is not a true parsley).
  • In Italian, it is known as sedano di montagna (mountain celery) or levistico.

Culinary uses

Lovage leaves are used fresh or dried to flavor soups, stews, broths, and stocks. The hollow stems can be blanched and eaten like celery or candied as a sweet. The roots are peeled, cooked as a vegetable, or grated raw into salads. Lovage seeds are sometimes ground and used as a spice, similar to fennel or caraway. The herb pairs well with potatoes, beans, poultry, and root vegetables. In Germany, lovage is a key ingredient in Suppengrün, a bundle of soup greens. A tea made from the leaves has been used as a digestive aid [2].

Cross-cuisine context

Lovage has no direct analogue in Mexican cuisine. Its closest functional relative in the platform’s corpus is apio (celery), which is used in Mexican cooking for caldos and sopas but lacks lovage’s intensity. In European cuisines represented in Los Angeles, lovage is most comparable to Liebstöckel or Maggi-Kraut in German cooking or livèche in French cuisine. In Armenian cooking, the herb cucumber herb (Borago officinalis) serves a similar fresh, green role but is botanically unrelated. No equivalent exists in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Cambodian, Persian, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Russian, or Arabic cuisines.

Notes for cooks

  • Lovage is much stronger than celery. Use half the amount called for in a recipe when substituting for celery leaves or stalks.
  • The leaves lose flavor quickly when dried. Freezing is a better preservation method.
  • All parts of the plant are edible, but the stems become tough and fibrous as the plant matures. Harvest young stems for best texture.