Well, back in the days when traders travelled on camels and caravans, taking days to reach their destinations, they still thought it was worth their while to visit India , China and the Far East . And the trade items that drew them from thousands of miles away were encompassed in one word, "Spices".
And t ravelers came back to Europe with breathtaking spices like cinnamon and ginger that changed our cooking pr eferences forever . Since then we have embraced exotic cuisine from different cultures from around the world. And one of the favourite is Italian.
Happily, we need only travel but a few miles to the local store to get most spices today. But there are still many herbs that you cannot buy at your local store and especially not in their natural state, which may be the thing you are looking for. And how about avoiding all the traffic and crowds and waiting at the till? How about if it took only a couple of minutes to get hold of your very favourite herb, without having to do all that?
Well you can if you had your very own Italian herb garden.
I say Italian because many of our favourite herbs are included in this category. And one of our favourite cuisines is Italian! Now if your favourite cuisine is Italian, which would require the use of Italian herbs, why would you consider spending time on creating any other type of garden?
Consider the following list of Italian herb garden plants that you can choose to grow in your own backyard or even in your own mini garden on your kitchen windowsill. Is that cool or what?
My all time preferred Italian herb garden plant is basil . I say plant because one of the dishes that we often have for dinner is the basil and chicken tom-yam stir-fry. For this dish you need the leaves, as fresh as you can get them.
Next comes garlic. To be honest I find garlic just as much-liked in our household as basil. We really cannot choose between them. But happily we do not have to. Not that I have to put on my turban and flowing robes and get on that camel to buy them. Even if you do not have your own Italian herb garden, these herbs are freely available in our local supermarkets today Garlic is easily the most popular herb in Chinese cooking every dish has it by default. It is also possibly t he most used herb in Italian cooking , which makes it indispensable in an Italian herb garden
Now a nother major player in what I call the " mob " of Italian herb garden plants for cooking is fennel. Fennel is known for the special flavours it adds to Italian sausages but my wife loves them raw in her salad! If you intend to grow them in your Italian herb garden remember that the fennel is known to lose its fragrance as it grows older . It is of the perennial category and to maintain its aroma, it is essential that you split them up every year for replanting.
Oregano , the plant with foliage and flowers that are as attractive as they are fragrant, is another contender for a place in your Italian herb garden . But remember this. If you want your oregano to be at the height of its aroma and taste, then you cannot harvest it until it has flowered.
Next is the much-liked parsley. Now parsley is a worthy candidate for your Italian herb garden in spite of its reluctance sometimes to grow and flourish. However, its versatility makes it worth your while to include it in your choice of herb plants.
Apparently, before anyone ever sucked on a breathe mint it was the parsley they chewed on to eliminate bad breath, especially after an aromatic meal.
After choosing your Italian herb garden plants, the next thing to do would be to d ecide on where you want it to be located and the form and design it would take for you and your family to get the maximum enjoyment out of it
Our recommended reading "Successful Herb Gardening ~ Step-by-Step" will guarantee your success in the every step and it is available for download at the Herb Gardening Site.
I AM ALLEGic TO BASIL BUT enjoyed reading this - am trying to use my nephew's lap tiop and not too good yet.... welcome to searchwarp! MArijo (Mary JO - dad got cute with spelling)
Nice article. I have always loved my food with spices. And especially the Italian herbs and indian spices. This is a nice article..keep on adding more spice to it..Cheers!
» left by Steve Jones(8) from United Kingdom (31 days 7 hours ago.)
I was going to say, What no Marjoram? But then I changed my mind as I think it is the same as Oregano! Nevertheless, nice article and I love all the herbs you mention.
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