Basil (Ocimum basilicum)

Basilic. Labiate

Appears in

By Richard Olney

Published 1974

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Annual. Easily raised from seed and may be kept as a potted plant. There are many varieties, ranging from tiny leaves hardly larger than pins’ heads to large lettuce-like leaves. The small-leafed varieties tend to be more peppery in flavor and somewhat less characteristic. They can be an attractive addition to salads, but the large light-green leaves are preferable for general use.

As usual an element in bouquets garnis as thyme or bay in pre-Carême French cuisine, basil disappeared almost completely and, even today, its only common use is in the Provençal soupe au pistou. The author of a booklet on rabbit cookery, dating from the early part of this century, in which some of the recipes were culled from antique sources, notes that he has eliminated such bizarre herbs as basil, leaf thyme, rosemary, and marjoram, “aromatic plants employed in olden times, the taste of which would seem strange to us today.” That attitude was and remains very general in France today (the Italians have never faltered in their loyalty, basil-flavored tomato sauces and the Genovese pesto having been borrowed into many an American kitchen as well).