The market · Herbs and aromatics · Southern Europe, Southeast Asia
Basil
Sweet, peppery and aniseed — the smell of Italian summer.
sweet · peppery · anise
What to do with it
ProvençalSoupe au pistouA summer soup of beans, green beans, courgette and pasta, with basil, garlic and olive oil pounded and stirred in at the end.No one here has made it yetItalianCaponataFried aubergine with celery, onion, tomato, capers and olives, in a sweet-and-sour sauce of vinegar and sugar.No one here has made it yetItalianPizza napoletanaA soft round of long-risen dough, topped simply — tomato, mozzarella, basil, oil — and baked for about a minute in a wood-fired oven until blistered at the rim.No one here has made it yetItalianPesto alla genoveseBasil pounded with garlic, pine nuts, salt, parmesan and pecorino, loosened with olive oil and tossed raw through trofie or trenette.No one here has made it yetItalianPasta alla NormaPasta in a sauce of tomato, garlic and basil with fried aubergine, under a snow of grated ricotta salata.No one here has made it yetKinds
- Genovese
- Big soft leaves — the one for pesto.
- Thai basil
- Purple stems, stronger anise; holds up to heat.
- Holy basil (kaphrao)
- Peppery, clove-like; for pad kaphrao.
Goes with
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Growing in a pot, or cut in bunches; keep it out of the fridge.
- Worth knowing
- Tear it, don't chop it, and add at the end.
Kitchens that keep it in
Provence — south-eastern France, from the Rhône to NiceProvençalOlive oil, garlic and the herbs of the dry hills, with tomatoes, fish from the Mediterranean and sauces pounded in a mortar.10 classicsItalyItalianNot one cuisine but twenty regional ones, united by a respect for a few very good ingredients and the argument about how each dish is 'really' made.11 classics
