Basil
Cultivated as a culinary herb, condiment or spice; source of essential oil for use in foods, flavors, and fragrances; garden ornamental. The green aromatic leaves are used fresh and dried as flavorings or spices in sauces, stews, salad dressings, vegetables, poultry, vinegar, confectionery products, and the liqueur chartreuse. Basil extract has been reported to have antioxidant activity. Cultivars with purple foliage, such as 'Dark Opal' and var. auranascens, are grown as ornamentals, but can also be used as flavorings. The essential oils and oleoresin are used extensively, reducing the need for dried leaves in the food industry; used in perfumes, soaps, and shampoos.
Basil is most commonly recommended to be used fresh in cooked recipes, it is generally added at the last moment, as cooking quickly destroys the flavour. The fresh herb can be kept for a short time in plastic bags in the refrigerator, or for a longer period in the freezer, after being blanched quickly in boiling water. The dried herb also loses most of its flavour, and what little flavour remains tastes very different, with a weak coumarin flavour, like hay.
