Although it’s not my favourite herb, I manage to get through bunches of parsley every week, either chopped and added to a recipe, for flavouring, as part of a bouquet garni, or just to decorate a dish, and I couldn’t do without it.
One of the nicest summer recipes using parsley is the classic French jambon persillé. A piece of gammon or ham is cooked with herbs and a pig’s trotter, then the gammon is diced or shredded, mixed with lots of parsley and packed into a loaf tin.
The stock is reduced, then poured over and chilled until set. I add a little gelatine as well to make sure of a firm set, but if you prefer, you can leave out the trotter and use all gelatine.
It’s delicious sliced and served with a French baguette or good Maltese bread either as a starter, or with a salad and pickles.
Thyme and basil are the quintessential Mediterranean herbs. I adore the scent of thyme and usually keep a pot on my kitchen window sill and add it to just about everything meaty. It doesn’t seem to last long, but when I’ve chopped off its last aromatic sprigs, I can always go out and pick some of the wild thyme growing on the hillside behind me. Greek pastitsio, made with a meat sauce flavoured with thyme, then mixed with pasta, makes an easy, filling and tasty supper, although a Greek housewife would probably use a lot less meat and a lot more pasta than I do. Serve it with a green salad and lots of crusty bread.
Centuries ago, there was an old wives’ tale in England that said if you put a sprig of basil under a flowerpot, it would turn into a scorpion. But the Brits weren’t the only ones who were suspicious of it – the Greeks too thought it referred to the legendary basilisk, one glance from whose terrible stare could turn you to stone!
I’m really quite surprised we ever got round to trying anything new, but obviously basil managed to rise above its fearful reputation. I keep a pot of basil on the window sill too, and manage to keep it going for most of the summer, and add it to anything and everything.
The basil butter in my chicken dish is an adaptation of an American recipe, and it makes a change from the usual pesto. It’s also delicious melted on top of a jacket-baked potato.
Summer gardens in England usually have a patch of fresh mint growing somewhere, but it’s rarely used for anything other than vinegary mint sauce. It wasn’t until I came to Malta that I realised how good it is in a host of other things.
I have tubs of mint growing in my courtyard that I manage to keep going through the winter, but it’s in the summer when it really comes into its own with things like swordfish and bruschetta, and lovely herby Lebanese tabbouleh to serve with barbecues.
My other favourite herbs, sage and rosemary, are better with warming winter things, so I’ll keep them for the autumn.