Culinary Herbs

Lettuce leaf basil is a popular old Italian variety, a large leafed variety of Sweet Basil and one of the most productive of all basils. With very large, crinkled and highly aromatic leaves, it adds the texture of leaf lettuce while packing a tasty basil flavour to brighten up your summer sandwiches.

Anise, Pimpinella anisum is one of the oldest known herbs, famous for its liquorice flavour it has assumed a popular stature for both its culinary uses and in herbal medicine. Use seeds for flavouring cookies, pastries, and confections and the leaves fresh in salads and soups.

Angelica archangelica is a majestic plant that deserves a prominent position at the back of a border or in a wild part of the garden. All parts of the aromatic plant have culinary or medicinal uses, but it is best known for its candied stems, used as a cake decoration.

Until a few years ago you would never have seen wild garlic on a menu, but these days is definitely a chefs' favourite. The whole plant is edible, the flavour is softer, more pleasant than cloves from garlic bulbs. The leaves have a vibrant colour that brings food to life, use sparingly in salads, or add to sauces and dressings. It also makes splendid pesto.

Alexanders are an ancient food source, cultivated for many centuries. This biennial wild flower, with dark green, shiny leaves and umbels of yellow-green flowers can be grown as an ornamental or can be put to use as a culinary herb or spice, the flavour is said to be similar to myrrh.