Italy is a country that loves its food like few others do. With this
in mind, creating an Italian Herb Garden, growing a selection of the
most widely used and favorite Italian herbs is a fantastic way to get
started home growing your own herbs or simply branching out from others
you already grow.
Themed
home herb gardens have become very popular and growing a specific
country or regions herbs can not only provide a lovely little niche for
your home herb garden but also come in extremely handy when trying to
cook and replicate traditional recipes from that particular area. It's
all there in one spot!
Gardens such as these can also ensure that
the herbs are actually used! You would be surprised at how many herbs
are grown only to wither and die un-harvested simply because the grower
did not really have an end use for them.
If you are a true lover of Italian food and wish to cook these
wonderful, flavorsome recipes at home, then growing your own ingredients
in an Italian Herb Garden will ensure they live up to their full
potential and end up in your kitchen pots - not the mulch!
In the
remainder of this article we will talk about some of the main herbs that
are commonly grown and used in Italian cuisine and also some of the
foods they are used for.
We will commence with one of the most
unmistakable aromas - Garlic. I challenge you to try and make your way
through an Italian restaurant or authentic pizza kitchen and try to find
several recipes without this kitchen necessity! Garlic is quite easy to
grow and is certainly an instant selection when picking your team of
herbs for your Italian Herb Garden! Its use in Italian cooking is
enormously widespread and you will need many a clove of garlic if trying
to navigate your way through an Italian cookbook!
Garlic is used
to flavor an incredible number of dishes from pizzas and of course
garlic bread to stir-fry's, steaks as well as just about everything in
between.
Basil is another commonly used herb in Italian cooking.
It has a distinctive flavor which is used to enhance many traditional
Italian recipes and is particularly charming when combined with any type
of tomato dish and is absolutely essential, shredded on your
bruschetta!
Parsley is another wonderful ingredient in Italian
cuisine and should also rightfully take its place in your Italian Herb
Garden. Sometimes there is a tendency for parsley to only be used as a
visual garnish however this is a slap in the face for the sharp yet
subtle flavor of parsley. An incredibly easy but delicious side dish or
snack is grilled tomatoes, cut in half and grilled for a few minutes
then drizzled with a good olive oil mixed with some crushed garlic and
chopped parsley!
Italian herbs frequently found in seafood and
chicken recipes are sage, fennel, mint, thyme and rosemary. Don't forget
to remove and discard the sprigs of some of these herbs such as
rosemary after cooking. They are great flavor enhancers but do not taste
very good when eaten directly!
When cooking strong dishes like
venison which has dark, gamey meat, you need strong, robust herbs like
Cloves, Juniper and Allspice to provide balance.
Basil, fennel
seeds, rosemary sprigs and garlic are all friends of beef recipes and
used comprehensively. Parsley is often used also, especially in beef
dishes containing sauce.
For all you focaccia lovers out there,
when making your own focaccia dough's at home, don't leave rosemary,
basil leaves and sage leaves off your list! These ingredients are
normally pressed into the dough before baking or scattered over the
golden brown bread immediately after it has come out of the oven.
Many
home herb gardeners love to grow mint for the delightful fragrance it
produces in and around their garden. It can also however, be very useful
in culinary situations like a subtle addition to strawberry sorbet or
gelato and also goes very well in salsas and dips.
These are just
some of the wonderful Italian herbs that could easily take their
rightful place in your home grown, Italian Herb Garden. The final make
up should be determined by which exact Italian herbs you will ideally
use in your cooking.
I hope this article has shed a little light
on some of the amazing Italian herbs there are out there and how you can
use them to create just a touch of Little Italy in your kitchen and on
your dinner table!
No comments :
Post a Comment