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Berries & Herbs

In 1886 the Swiss industrial food pioneer Julius Maggi invented a liquid soup seasoning that took households across Europe by storm. The new and ready-to-use spice almost proved to be the deathblow to lovage, a once very popular herb.

To spice up their food our ancestors used whatever herbs they could find in their garden or the surrounding fields: caraway, chive, parsley, savory, onions, and afore mentioned lovage which was mainly used in soups for its unique flavor. A flavor Mr. Maggi finally managed to recreate with exclusively artificial ingredients. Maggi’s liquid soup seasoning took the kitchens by storm and over were the days of the bouquet garni (French for "garnished bouquet"), the bundle of parsley, carrots, celery and lovage, that was tied together with string and used to prepare soup, stock, and various stews.

But there was still a large part of the population who could not afford Maggi seasonings and had to make do with their garden herbs. An old farmer from Osttirol said the following: “a herb garden was essential for us, no way we could have done without it. We didn’t have Maggi …”

In Austria, Germany and Holland, one of the common names of Lovage is Maggikraut (Austria) or Maggiplant (Dutch) because the plant's taste is reminiscent of Maggi soup seasoning.

Lovage was not only used for cooking though. Lovage tea was applied to wounds as an antiseptic, or drunk to stimulate digestion. In the distant past its oil was used in the preparation of love potions, hence its name. Unfortunately Maggi seasoning has more or less completely replaced this wonderful herb. Few people know lovage, even fewer believe in its powers as love potion. It’s not even used as kitchen spice anymore: an industrial, artificial seasoning seems to be doing the trick. It has even lost its romantic name and has to go under the misnomer Maggikraut. A fate no plant deserves! We demand: give lovage another chance!

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