A California Winery Blog

Rose Moradian in the Bistro Restaurant & Wine Bar Blog  has written an article on Basil. Some of it gleamed from Wikipedia as well from research and experience. Her Bistro Garden is at the Lafond Vineyards. Rose’s garden grows more interesting as time goes on. Today she planted what she calls Mission Corn. The same variety planted by the Padres at the various California Missions in the 18th century. She writes…

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) of the Family Lamiaceae is also known as Albahaca, St. Joseph’s Wort, and Sweet Basil. It is a tender low-growing annual herb, originally native to tropical Asia. It grows to between twenty and sixty centimetres tall, with opposite, light green, silky leaves one and a half to five centimetres long and one to three centimetres broad.

It tastes somewhat like cloves, with a strong, pungent, sweet smell. Basil is very sensitive to cold, with best growth in hot, dry conditions.The word basil comes from the Greek âáóéëåõò, meaning “king”, as it is believed to have grown above the spot where St. Constantine and Helen discovered the Holy Cross. The Oxford English Dictionary quotes speculations that basil may have been used in “some royal unguent, bath, or medicine”…

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