Holiday Cooking – Rosemary

This month I have been exploring several familiar Mediterranean herbs, which are used in savory holiday cuisine. I’m using J.O. Swahn’s The Lore of Spices for information, and today I’m learning about the aromatic herb rosemary.

Rosmarinus officinalis is in the Lamiaceae family (mint family). Rosemary originated in the Mediterranean and Asia, and has a long history of uses from symbolic, to medicinal, to culinary. Per Swahn, rosemary was named by Pliny the historian, to indicate that it grows close to the sea shore (ros for foam, and mare for the sea spray). During ancient times, rosemary had a religious role, and was used to strengthen memory and elicit fertility in the next life.

Caption: Botanical illustration of Rosmarinus officinalis L. from Koehler's Medicinal Plants.
Published before 1923 and in public domain in the United States.

In Medieval and Renaissance times, rosemary was used as a medicine, and possibly to cover up the saltiness of preserved meats. In the 17^th century, rosemary was used to flavor pork, lamb, game, and boiled potatoes. We continue to flavor food with rosemary in modern times; to extract its oils for use in perfumes, candles, and incense; and to include it as a drought tolerant plant in the landscape.

Rosemary grows as an evergreen shrub to 2-4 feet (.6-1.2 meters) high. Stems are woody, and mostly square in cross section; young branches are pubescent, turning to woody with age. Leaves are simple, opposite, leathery, linear, ½-1 ½ inches long, somewhat rounded at the tip (obtuse), generally rounded downward to the underside of the leaf (revolute), and woolly (tomentose) beneath. Flowers grow in tiny clusters (verticillasters) along the stem, and are pale blue, and rarely pink or white. The calyx grows as a bell (campanulate), with the corolla about three times as long as the calyx to 5/16 inches long. Two-lipped, with the upper lip entire, and the lower lip 2-lobed.