Herb
Basil
Also called sweet basil, Italian basil
Sweet basil — the large, tender Ocimum leaf of pesto, pizza Margherita and a Chilean pastel de choclo lid. Italian basil is anise-clove; Thai holy basil is a different page. Dried basil is a grey memory and a poor stand-in for a handful of fresh leaves.
Origin
Tropical Asia, then a Mediterranean garden herb so thoroughly adopted that Genoa and Naples treat it as local. The Chilean corn pie uses it as perfume in the mince, a Spanish-Italian echo.
Flavour
Anise, clove, green, sweet. Bruised leaves smell louder than sliced ones. Heat turns the leaf black and toward minty tea.
How to use it
Tear over pasta alla Norma or pizza as it leaves the oven — do not cook a fistful in the sauce unless you want it khaki. Pastel de choclo can take chopped basil in the filling, not a long simmer. Oil and a pinch of salt carry it; boiling water kills it. If you must use dried, it goes in early and you should lower your hopes. Do not store chopped basil in lemon juice expecting pesto tomorrow; it oxidises anyway. A cheap bunch that has black spots is already on the way out.
Storage
Stems in a jar of water on the bench, out of hard sun, or loosely in the fridge. It bruises and blackens if you crush it in a bag. Freeze leaves in oil if the bunch is too big; the colour dulls, the smell remains.
Recipes using it
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