Meet the Basils

Blue Spice with its slightly fuzzy leaves

One of my favorite herbs, and one of the easiest to grow in tropical and sub tropical climates. It always puzzles me why basil is hardly ever grown in the Caribbean. Above, the classic, Genovese, the best tasting for pesto and with tomatoes.

The variations in the varieties of basil are so great its like growing more than one herb. My marvelous discovery of this basil growing season has been Blue Spice basil, which lives up to its description of smelling “fruity with vanilla”. It’s the most delightful smelling basil. It tastes like it smells, too, so its nice in fruit salads and drinks.

Thai basil

I sowed Johhny’s Queenette-Thai basils are so aromatic and totally necessary for certain Asian dishes. Great also sprinkled on pizza and pasta. Queenette ties with “Siam Magic” as the best Thai basil I have grown. You can keep Thai basil plants going for a couple years in warm climates. Many Asian recipes in the American media which call for cilantro actually use Thai basil in the original.

I also sowed “Johnny’s Bouquet mix” though I really can’t tell for sure which types came up (except for the Thai, purple and lemon varieties) and but all plants are wonderfully fragrant, with tasty leaves.

The best lemon basil I ever had was from a plant grown from a packet of Samen Mauser brand seed I picked up in Geneva. It was the first lemon basil I ever grew, so I did not know that all others were not as equal, hence I did not take the time to save seed. The plant lasted for about two years.

 Lemon basil

A complement to basil in dishes, this one is grown all over the Caribbean-habanero pepper-this particular one wickedly hot. One pepper pod equals use in an entire week's cooking! I use a tiny chip when making pesto.