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Herbs play an important role in Italian cooking. Their aromatic flavour adds depth and interest to what is essentially plain cooking based on fresh ingredients. It is impossible to imagine roast chicken or veal without sage or rosemary, or tomatoes or pesto without basil.
Many wild herbs grow in the Italian countryside, and these are often incorporated into Italian recipes. Tuscany, in particular, is a paradise of herbs, for many species grow wild here, and those who live in towns insist on growing, at the very least, basil, sage and rosemary in window boxes or tiny earthenware pots, so they can have aromatic leaves and stems constantly available to use when cooking.
Basil with its intense aroma and fresh, sweet flavour is associated with Italian coking more that any other herb. The moment one touches it or pulls off its leaves, its characteristic fragrance pours forth. Basil is an essential ingredient of pesto. It goes well with salad, it also finds its way into soups, and almost all dishes based on tomatoes. There are over 20 varieties of this annual herb, but the one most commonly used in Italy is sweet basil, with ots fresh broad green leaves and wonderfully spicy aroma.
Buying, Storing, Cooking
In sunny climates, such as southern Italy, basil grows outdoors all through the summer. In other places is is available growing in pots all year round. Look for sweet basil with bright green leaves - the larger the better. If you have grown your own and have a lot, you can freeze basil leaves to preserve the flavour, but they lose their fresh texture and darken in colour. Alternatively, pit a bunch of basil in a jar and top up with olive oil for a fragrant flavoured oil for dressing. To store fresh cut basil, wrap it in damp kitchen paper and keep in the vegetable drawer of the fridge for up to 2-3 days.
Basil has a volatile flavour, so it is best added to dishes at the end of cooking. It is essential for dishes that contains tomatoes and is delicious sprinkled onto a pizza. It adds pungent, sweet note to almost all salads and is particularly good with white fish an seafood. It makes an excellent flavouring for omelets and is often added to minestrone soup. The most famous of all basil dishes is pesto, the fragrant Genoese sauce made by pounding together fresh basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts and olive oil.
Basil leaves are tender and bruise easily, so never chop them with a knife, but tear them lightly with your fingers immediately before using.
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I always use basil in my sauces. You can taste the delicious taste.