HERBS THAT ENHANCE YOUR DIET

In our series of articles on Herbs That Enhance Your Diet, Chef Priya throws light on two more herbs,

ROSEMARY and SAGE

ROSEMARY

A shrub whose leaves are used either fresh or dried as a flavouring. The leaves having a pungent taste are used to flavour marinade, ragout, game dish or a grill. Rosemary combines well with veal but also used in some tomato sauces and oven cooked fish. In North of Europe, rosemary is used to flavour sausage meat, sucking pig and roast lamb. Rosemary can also be used in dessert, when added to milk. Flowers of rosemary can be used to garnish salads and can be crystallized as a candied rosemary. Rosemary tea alleviates headaches.

SAGE

An aromatic herb with a slightly bitter flavour used for flavouring fatty meats eg pork, forcemeat, marinades, certain cheeses and various drinks. There are 4 varieties of sage used in France.

Garden sage known as Grande Sauge, has thick oblong hairy leaves, greyish green in colour.

Provencal sage (petite sauge) is the most prized, with smaller pale leaves and a pronounced flavour.

Catalonian sage, the smallest of all.

Clary sage with curly hairy leaves used to make Italian Vermouth.

In Provencal cooking, sage is used for cooking white meat and certain vegetable soups.

In Italian Cuisine sage is used in piccata, saltimbocca, ossobucco, paupiettes and rice minestrone.

In Britain and Flanders sage and onion are used for poultry and pork stuffings and to flavour sauces.

In Germany, ham sausages and even beer sometimes are flavoured with sage.

Balkans and Middle East it is eaten with roast mutton.

Chinese have tea flavoured with sage.

Sage tea is used as a digestive aid. Sage oil also improves memory.