Friday, May 4, 2007

Ocimum basilicum

It is a tender low-growing herb that is grown as a perennial in warm, tropical climates. It is originally native to India and other tropical regions of Asia having been cultivated there for more than 5,000 years. It is prominently featured in varied cuisines throughout the world including Italian, Thai, Vietnamese and Laotian
So imagine my delight when I stopped by Namdhari's (chic, organic vegetable & fruit store) today on my way to work just on the off chance that they may have some interesting & fresh herbs and to my absolute delight, I found neatly stacked and fresh little bundles of Italian basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano! I spent ten minutes just sniffing and admiring all the herbs, thus drawing dubious looks from the man at the counter. I left with 2 bundles of fresh Italian basil.
Pesto alla genovese in its classic basic form has Genoese basil, salt, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and Pecorino Sardo cheese. Many variants have been elaborated within the genoese cuisine by adding extra ingredients like pine nuts, walnuts and curd or ricotta cheese. Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano cheese can be used instead of the pecorino sardo cheese.
Ah joy!

2 comments:

YFD said...

Do you know if Namdhari's also stocks Oil of Oregano? It's supposed to have excellent anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties and greater therapeutic value than all other oils put together.... well, almost!

Great blog!

Abs said...

Hey Venus: No I don't think they stock oregano oil...though it definitely sounds interesting! There's a couple of other organic food stores in Bangalore that not many know about. There's one that's located right off Cunningham Road actually..the road before Infinitea where there is an Organics only store...I shall pay that a visit soon. Thanks for the tip!