Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
Thursday, June 25th, 2009When I just arrived in the office yesterday morning, I did my usual routine: unlocking my mobile drawer, plugged in my portable speaker, set up my iPod and pressed ‘start’. The iPod started to play songs, picking up where it left off on my departure yesterday. The first song that came on was ‘Scarborough Fair’ which is one of my favourite songs.
While I set up my laptop, I listened carefully to the song’s lyrics:
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
For once she was a true love of mine
I wondered what the song meant, especially the ‘parsley, sage rosemary and thyme’ part since I thought it looked a bit out of topic. 
When I did a Google search on ‘parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme meaning’, many results came up but I liked this explanation the most. According to that article, parsley represents something that takes away the bitterness, sage symbolizes strength, rosemary represents faithfulness, love and remembrance, and thyme symbolizes courage.
So, if something that happened in your past leaves you with bitterness, make some parsley soup. If you are facing some challenges in your life, strengthen yourself with a turkey sage chowder. On your wedding anniversary, whip up some mini rack of lamb with nutty beluga lentils and sauteed garlic spinach (yes there is at least 1 tablespoon of rosemary required to make the dish). And when you must do something which the whole world seems to be against, equip yourself with braised lamb shoulder with carrots and fennel. 
