Basil - for me it conjures up a deliciously light and aromatic pesto tossed with pasta and potatoes that I ate with our friends Stephen and Marina in a Ligurian seaside restaurant in Cinque Terre on Italy’s west coast around 12 years ago. It also takes me back eight years to a light tomato and fish broth Michael and I ate in Nice, southern France, that had a spoonful of pistou added as it was served. In Thailand, I’ve enjoyed holy basil scattered over coconut curries at the end of their cooking, and I’ve loved the piles of mint and basil served almost as a salad in Vietnamese restaurants over the years. However, this herb, which is indispensable in many cuisines and also significant in European folklore and in religious belief from India through to Serbia, China and South-East Asia, actually originated in the warm, tropical parts of Central Asia, Iran and India, where it’s been cultivated for thousands of years. Central Asia and Liguria may be worlds apart culturally, and several thousand miles away from each other geographically, but as with so many of our foodstuffs these days, we take for granted that often they have entered our kitchens through much travel, cultivation and history.
