Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)

Romarin. Labiate

Appears in

By Richard Olney

Published 1974

  • About
Perennial. More practical to buy the plants than to attempt seeding, although in its natural habitat it is self-seeding. Little used except in Italy, where sprays of fresh rosemary are often tied up with a roast before being sold from the butcher’s (and, today, in France where the meats of the modish restaurants specializing in charcoal grills with Provençal herbs are often thickly coated with rosemary). It is among the most exhilarating of all garden scents, but, brought to the kitchen, rosemary turns troublesome and aggressive. It can be good with pork, lamb, and certain strongly flavored, oily fish (such as sardines, smelts, mackerel, eel), but it is wiser to leave these in contact with branches of the fresh herb in a simple olive oil marinade, removing the herb before cooking (unless, for instance, a branch is placed inside a fish’s abdominal cavity before being grilled and removed before serving).