"basil" news and stories

Know your basil from your borage? Fennel from fenugreek? Mint from marjoram? It's the zestiest quiz ever from Slashfood.

Home grown basil. Photo: The Sweet Kitchen

While many scents (sunscreen, chlorine, charcoal) remind us of summer, few foodies will dispute fresh basil's ability to capture the essence of the season. Looking at this picture of the sun shining through the stems of The Sweet Kitchen's homegrown basil, one can almost smell its sweet, pungent leaves.

Luckily, the joy doesn't have to end when summer does. Due to the rainy spring many of us witnessed, gargantuan basil plants lurk all over North America. Clever gardeners like The Sweet Kitchen have preserved Mother Nature's summer fragrance with homemade jarred pesto. That way despite the winter blues inevitably kicking in, a bite of sunshine, captured perfectly in this photo, will remain.

[Via The Sweet Kitchen]

Bluefish with Fava Beans, Corn, Tomatoes and Fresh Herbs. Photo: Rebecca Flint Marx

Let's face it: ever since Hannibal Lecter sung their praises in "The Silence of the Lambs," fava beans haven't enjoyed the greatest associations -- particularly where Chianti and liver are involved.

And that's a shame, because they're some of the most flavorful and versatile treats that summer has to offer. In season for a few precious weeks, favas -- which have been enjoyed throughout the world for about 5,000 years and are packed with so much protein they've been called "the meat of the poor" -- can be used in everything from salads and purées to soups and pasta dishes.

When the flat, wide beans are shelled and blanched, they adopt a vibrant grassy hue and buttery texture that enriches any meal, and their rapid cooking time makes it easy to incorporate them into a quick weeknight dinner -- or into lunch the following day. While stringing and shucking the beans (which, unshelled, are about five inches long) is a bit labor-intensive, it's one of those activities that's all but made for summer, particularly if you have a porch, some time on your hands and a glass of something cold by your side.

Does food symbolism bear any truth? If, so then Italian sweet basil can trigger romance. In Italian culture, basil symbolizes love. When a woman puts out a pot of basil, it means she is ready to receive her suitor. Interestingly, in Ancient Greece, it represented anger. Since basil is one of my favorite herbs, I prefer to believe it's a sign of love. The sweet pungent taste of Genovese basil with hints of anise brings me back to a past trip to Cinque Terre.

While basil is a summer herb, I recently tried a delicious basil tea that reminded me of how much I love it and yearn for summer produce. While it originated in India, Africa, and Asia, it's now grown worldwide. Genovese Basil might be one of the best varieties out of the 150, because it yields about 8 cuttings and makes the best pesto.

While in Cinque Terre, I visited a small pesto factory outside the village of Riomaggiore. I'll never forget the gorgeous cliffs covered in bright green basil and the beautiful enchanting aroma of basil emanating from a red bucket in the pesto factory. If indeed basil activates romance, then this Valentine's Day, find a way to incorporate it into your meal.

It's inevitable- a recipe calls for an herb you know you have in your pantry, or at least you thought so. Next time you're in a pickle, check out this herb substitution chart.