Rosemary looks like a shrub or shrub with constantly green foliage. The height of the shrub reaches two meters, and a shrub - one. Both are very branchy. The branches are densely covered with small narrow leaves, slightly twisting around the edges, the top of the leaves is leathery to the touch, has a gray-green color, and the bottom is silver-white. The plant belongs to the family Labiaceae. Rosemary blooms in spring or summer with small flowers of light blue, light purple, and in warm climates it blooms in the second round - in autumn or winter.
Rosemary is cultivated both in its homeland, the Western Mediterranean, and in all subtropics, where there is enough moisture, and on the coasts of the Caucasus and Crimea, it really freezes if the temperature in winter drops below ten degrees below zero. Its name, which translates as “sea dew,” is also associated with growth on the seashore.
Not all rosemary exudes a pleasant aroma; the use of plant leaves in various dishes is most effective. They are used both fresh and dry, then they become a little darker. It is believed that the higher the place where rosemary grows, the more rocks there are, the better the spice from it will turn out. It is even more important to collect the leaves correctly: you need to choose the youngest, most tender leaves from the top of the bush and not just before it blooms, but even before the first buds appear. In order for the collected leaves to maintain a pleasant aroma resembling that of camphor, and a spicy-bitter taste in a dry form, you must certainly dry them in the shade. The top of the finished leaves should be convex, and the lower part should fold. Well-dried raw materials are extremely fragile.
Rosemary, the use of which is described in the writings of the authors of ancient Egypt, was successfully grown as a cultivated plant among other spicy plants even before Christmas.
But, despite the successful cultivation of rosemary and on the Black Sea, in the CIS they use it as a spice much less often than in European countries.
Basically found rosemary application in cooking in the process of cooking meat dishes. At the same time, there are two goals: to beat off the characteristic smell that has one or another type of meat (for example, rabbit meat, lamb), and at the same time give it the smell of game. This is especially true for meat of domestic ducks, geese, chickens, turkeys, the aroma of which significantly improves rosemary, the use of which is as follows: fresh or dry rosemary leaves are ground with parsley leaves and softened butter. The resulting paste is placed under the skin of the bird before frying or stewing it.
Very little is added to soups (vegetable, meat) of this spice, given that its overdose or prolonged stay in a dish will give it an unpleasant bitterness. Along with other spices, it is not customary to use rosemary. Its use, for example, together with a bay leaf is not welcome, it should be decided: either this or that. Rosemary makes a unique “garni bouquet” - a spicy mixture, without which it is difficult to imagine French soups, whether they are meat or vegetable. By the way, the “garni bouquet" is also left in soups for 5-6 minutes, not longer.
As a seasoning, rosemary is included in sauces, meat or lard sauce, pasta dishes, vegetable dishes (peas, cauliflower), pizza toppings and even fruit salads for dessert.
Rosemary is also sometimes put in marinades, its use is similar to the use of tarragon, although, of course, the taste given by rosemary has its own connotation.
Attention! It is important not to confuse rosemary with marsh rosemary, which has nothing to do with any spices at all. It is easy to distinguish it by the reddish-brown color of the leaves below.