On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 770

mostly alphabetical order Fresh herbs are usually harvested from mature plants, often as they’re beginning to flower, when their defensive essential oil content is at its peak The oil content of Mediterranean herbs is higher on the side of the plant facing the sun An interesting variation is to harvest them as young sprouts with just a few leaves, when their essential oil content can be very different Fennel sprouts, for example, contain relatively little aniselike anethole, which dominates the flavor of the mature plant The Mint Family The mint family is a large one, with around 180 genera, and it provides more of our familiar kitchen herbs than any other family Why such generosity? A fortunate combination of several factors Members of the mint family dominate the dry, rocky Mediterranean scrublands where few other plants grow, and they cope with their exposed situation with a vigorous chemical defense Their chemical defenses are located mainly in small glands that project from their leaves, external and therefore expandable storage tanks that can make up as much as 10% of the leaf’s weight And members of the mint family are both promiscuous chemists and promiscuous breeders: individual species make a broad range of aromatic chemicals, and they readily hybridize with each other The result is a great variety of plants and aromas Basil Basils are a large and fascinating group of herbs They’re members of the tropical genus Ocimum, which probably originated in Africa, and was domesticated in India There are around 165 species in the genus Ocimum, several of which are eaten Basil was known to the Greeks and Romans, took firmest root ... make a broad range of aromatic chemicals, and they readily hybridize with each other The result is a great variety of plants and aromas Basil Basils are a large and fascinating group of herbs They’re members of. .. small glands that project from their leaves, external and therefore expandable storage tanks that can make up as much as 10% of the leaf’s weight And members of the mint family are both promiscuous chemists and promiscuous breeders: individual species...Mediterranean scrublands where few other plants grow, and they cope with their exposed situation with a vigorous chemical defense Their chemical defenses are located mainly in small glands that project from their leaves,