Try this cooling summer drink: To the juice of half a lemon add several balm leaves and several mint leaves crushed, then fill the glass with half apple juice and half lemonade. Lemon Balm Stuffing From Rennaissance times comes this old recipe for a piquant stuffing for duck. Stuff the washed dried duck with the [...]
The first requirement for most herbs is sunshine. The next most important requirement is the fertility and physical consistency of the soil. A whole chapter is given later in this book to soil preparation and composting, but in this chapter I shall discuss two aspects only: the soil must be well-drained, and it must have [...]
Artemisia abrotanum COMPOSITAE The name “wormwood” is loosely applied to many members of the Artemisia group. The true wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) provides the extract, absinthin, which was dissolved in alcohol to make the fiery French absinthe. Incomplete knowledge of this herb led Pernod, in 1791, into his absinthe recipe. Although a solution of wormwood in [...]
Cymbopogon citratus JUNCACEAE The “sweet rash”, lemongrass, is an unusual herb, bearing great resemblance to the flax plant family in its appearance and habit of growth. The leaves are long straps of fresh bright green, sheathing the stems which grow from a fleshy base. Lemongrass is a fast-growing herb, fitting happily into a courtyard planting, [...]
An old German recipe for comfrey is to fry in oil the small leaves dipped in a light batter. These look rather like flat, greenish fish when cooked, a talking-point perhaps for a dinner-party appetizer. Just cook them very quickly in the hot oil, drain, and serve immediately—or when they have cooled down if you [...]