The Herbal Epicure: Growing, Harvesting, and Cooking Healing Herbs
Novice and seasoned gardeners alike will discover sprig upon sprig of useful information in this rich combination herb primer/cookbook. Drawing from her own organic gardening experience--a 20-year labor of love inspired by an attempt to make her family "entirely self-sufficient"--author Carole Ottesen tells the story of growing and cooking with more than 100 healing herbs. A helpful sketch of each plant shares a full page with its general facts (including botanical name, use, and harvest time). After Ottesen discusses her own relationship to the herb--buying Mexican mint after her tarragon plants expired; discovering plants of gotu kola for sale at the local garden center--she relates interesting facts regarding the herb's historical use, its various healing properties, whether it's approved by the German Commission E, and how the little treasure prospered (or didn't) in her own garden. She also offers a handful of savory recipes showcasing the featured herb. Here, Ottesen's schooling at l'Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, Maryland, mixes delightfully with her wit and kitchen savvy. Recipes range from entrées like Hyssop Chicken for Sadness to simple accents (Carrots with Rosemary Butter); from tinctures and teas to elegant desserts (The Only Good Fruitcake). Her cozy writing style and true wealth of carefully detailed knowledge about each herb make this guide much more than a mere cookbook or herbal encyclopedia: each entry reads like a letter from a dear friend, and a highly informed one at that.--Liane Thomas