You can cut down the herbs and spices if you start with high-quality ingredients. We spent a week in Puglia in southern Italy, ate superb food all week and didn't detect any herbs and spices. Simple grub with best-quality ingredients. The best bruschetta I ever had in my life was at a little café in Lecce. It consisted of lovely local bread, lightly toasted, topped with just extra virgin olive oil and chopped tomatoes. No garlic, no oregano, no basil. When I made my stew I tasted the raw carrots and swede for sweetness. I've been known to ditch whole batches of both if they didn't taste sweet and fresh.

Hope you've all thrown out that nasty little tub of dried basil!