Rosemary is a perennial evergreen shrub. Due to its unique aroma, this plant is widely used in cooking and aromatherapy. Rosemary is also used as a medicine.
Instructions
Step 1
Rosemary is a shrub with a height of 50 to 200 centimeters. Under cultural conditions, it rarely grows more than a meter. Rosemary leaves are shiny, rich dark green color. They are long and narrow, in appearance they resemble the needles of conifers. Rosemary blooms in small flowers, collected in inflorescences. The color of the flowers ranges from deep purple to light blue. Rosemary with white flowers is rarely found. The flowering rosemary bush looks very impressive. The ancient Greeks believed that its flowers have such a beautiful color thanks to the sea foam. Washing the rosemary bushes growing on the coast, the foam gives them all the shades of the sea. If you rub a leaf of rosemary between your fingers, you can smell its completely unique aroma. It is a pronounced camphor scent with notes of pine and eucalyptus.
Step 2
Rosemary is a thermophilic plant. His homeland is the western Mediterranean coast. Rosemary grows wild in North Africa and southern Europe. The name comes from the Latin expression "Ros Marinus", which translates as "sea dew". It was named so because the natural habitat of rosemary is the seaside. Even among the people, this evergreen shrub is called the "grass of memories", since the beneficial effect of rosemary on memory has been known since ancient times.
Step 3
Because of its beautiful flowers, rosemary is grown as an ornamental plant. It is widely used in medicine, aromatherapy, cosmetology and cooking. As a spice, rosemary is used fresh and dried. For culinary purposes, the topmost leaves are plucked from the stem - they are the most delicate and fragrant. Dried rosemary shoots resemble dry pine needles in appearance. This spice has a bright camphor aroma and a pungent taste. In cooking, rosemary should be used sparingly because it can overpower the flavor of the rest of the ingredients. It is not recommended to combine rosemary and bay leaf in one dish.
Step 4
Rosemary goes well with any meat: pork, beef, lamb, chicken, any game. The most common way to use rosemary is to chop it, mix it with finely chopped parsley and butter. The resulting mixture is "stuffed" with meat prepared for frying or baking.
Step 5
Rosemary is very good in vegetable dishes. He can turn ordinary potatoes into a delicious treat: it is enough to sprinkle the vegetable with sprigs of rosemary before baking in the oven. Rosemary is also suitable for first courses. Especially well it will set off the taste of pea or chicken soup. It is better to use fresh rosemary in the first courses. It will be enough to put a couple of twigs on a three-liter saucepan. In this case, it is imperative to get them out of the pan at the end of cooking so that the rosemary does not have time to give bitterness.
Step 6
Mediterranean cuisine is unthinkable without this spice. Italians add rosemary to their national dishes - pasta and pizza. You can add rosemary leaves to bottles of oil or vinegar. You will get a fragrant base for salad dressing. In European cuisine, rosemary flowers are used to decorate salads and desserts.
