Spice – What herbs and spices are in “Italian Seasoning”

Dry rubs are one case that I can think of where dry is specifically necessary, so you can grind them up properly.

The main advantage to dry herbs is that they're available year round. When you're dealing with winter dishes, dry herbs would've been the norm to have used at that time.

If you are going to substitute, you'll need to add more (typically about 3x as much, as the dry is usually more concentrated), and you'll want to add it late in the cooking process, while dry herbs are usually added early.

One exception to the rule is bay leaves -- you'll still need to add them early, and you'll want to reduce the number.

Some example of herbs usage here in Italy (I'm 100% italian living near Milan):

Basil: (for its fresh taste)

• Pasta with tomato sauce and a couple of leaves of fresh basil on top.
• Pizza Margherita: Mozzarella Cheese, tomatoes, basil.
• Pesto: basil, parmigiano cheese, pine nuts & olive oil.

Oregano: (a little salty, chosen for its strong parfume)

• On top of Focaccia
• Mozzarella Caprese (mozzarella, tomatoes, basil & oregano)

Sage (delicate perfume, used to enhance flavours)

• Gnocchi with butter & sage, with little parmigiano

Parsley

• Mostly used with fish pasta dishes (never with meat!)

Some common mistakes on italian pasta recipes "as seen from abroad" is that we don't really use parsley or oregano everywhere. Many other herbs like tarragon, marjoram, etc... Are rarely used in everyday recipes.