Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

sage Salvia officinalis, a perennial and evergreen herb of the mint family. It belongs to S. Europe and Asia Minor, but is now cultivated for culinary use in most temperate regions of the world. That grown in Dalmatia, on the Adriatic coast, is considered to be among the best.

In the classical world and medieval times the uses of sage were medicinal. However, although it retains to this day a reputation for restorative powers, sage gradually lost its importance in medicine and acquired instead, by the 16th century, a number of uses in European kitchens.