Rosmarinus Officinalis

Rosemary is a shrub native to Mediterranean. It grows to a height of 2 m with 1.5 m circumference. It has a branched woody stem. Its annual sprouts on branches are upright and green. Narrow leaves are disposed on the stem and are 2-3 cm long and 3 mm broad. The upper surface of leaves is bulging with tucked up ends and it is shinning dark green. Flowers are light blue to light violet and grow in small groups at upper parts of the stem. It flowers in spring and early summer.

Interesting facts

Rosemary has an honour to be a central plant in summer herb garden.

Cooks and pharmacists have been using it since ancient times.

Because of its reputation to improve the memory, it became an emblem of fidelity among lovers; somewhere even brides wore rosemary wreathes “richly interwoven and tightly bound with colourful silky ribbons”.

Spanish worshiped rosemary as a shrub, which gave Virgin Mary a shelter during her escape to Egypt. When she spread her mantle over it, its white flowers turned blue.

In the past resinous rosemary was burnt in hospitals in order to clean the air, while on courts they covered the grounds with it in order to protect themselves against typhus. During the plague epidemics they put rosemary in hollowed handles of walking stick or in bags that were carried around a neck so that they inhaled its scent while passing through contaminated areas.

Useful parts

Most frequent fresh or dried leaves are used, in cuisine also flowers. Leaves can be harvested regularly from June to August or branchlets should be cut before flowering.

Ways of usage

- it stimulates blood circulation, increases blood pressure, strengthens nerves and it is used in the treatment of diseases related to age exhausted heart,

- it remedies exhaustion and soothes headaches,

- it helps to recover,

- it prevents flatulence, regulates the stomach activity, stimulates the production and release of bile, relives digestive cramps, remedies coughing up and cleans respiratory pathway, 

- rosemary disinfects outer parts of the body and is used for rubbing in when having muscle rheumatism, contusions, lesions, sprains and pimples.

Culinary use

In small quantities it is used with fishes, pork and lamb, in sauces and marinades, it supplements the taste of stews, soups, baked potato or rice. Somewhere people add a couple of rosemary leaves to egg dishes. It is used in herb butter, herb vinegar and oil. Its flowers are somewhere sprinkled over salads and crystallized in sugar for the decoration of desserts. Leaves are added for flavouring wine, herb liqueur and digestifs.

Cheese slices with rosemary

We need:

- 50 g of butter

-150 g of oat flakes

- 175 g of grated cheese (45 % fat)

- 1 beaten egg

- 1 spoon (15 ml) of chopped rosemary

- pinch of cayenne

- salt

 

Preparation: Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Melt the butter in a frying pan. Put other ingredients in a bowl and stir the butter into it. Put the dough at the bottom of a 20-cm-long baking tin and bake it for 30 – 40 minutes. Cut it on slices.