pizzablogger

Basil…….in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, it grows on my friend’s nine inch wide faux balcony in eight inch pots barely small enough to fit between the outer railing and the sliding door. In my backyard, at a location which only receives between four and five hours of direct sunlight each day, it grows in five gallon paint buckets with small holes drilled into the bottom of the buckets for drainage. It supposedly grew around the tomb of Jesus Christ at the time of his resurrection. Some Greek Orthodox churches use it to help prepare holy water and it is also planted around Buddhist temples in Thailand. It was once thought to be a remedy for witches. It’s considered kingly to Hindus, is sacred to the gods Krishna and Vishnu and is the chosen herb upon which to swear oaths in some courts of law. Crushing its leaves and rubbing them on your skin is an effective flying insect repellent. In the 17th century, Culpeper mentioned “it either makes enemies or gains lovers, but there is no in between”. Sweet, cinnamon, lemon, green ruffles, bush, Greek, lettuce leafed, purple and sacred varieties exist. It goes wonderfully with eggs, tomatoes, salads, pastas, is delicious eaten by itself and, oh yeah, it’s one of the vital ingredients in the pizza which arguably catapulted the bubbling disk from being primarilly a peasant food to being a hit all over Italy and, eventually, the entire [...]