How to use rosemary

Herbarium, Caz Hildebrand’s stylishly illustrated guide to 100 herbs and their uses, is as useful as it is beautiful. 

Here, Caz has kindly shared her thoughts on a much-used and much loved herb – rosemary. It’s a key ingredient in our brand new skincare range, as well, of course, as an accompaniment to any classic Welsh lamb dish. 

“Rosemary, literally, ‘dew of the sea’ – has always been thrown into graves to signify remembrance, just as brides have for a long time worn rosemary headpieces (they are thought to be a love charm). Love and death go hand in hand when it comes to this woody, evergreen perennial, as the seventeenth century poet Robert Herrick knew:

‘Grow for two ends – it matters not at all, Be’t for my bridall, or my buriall.’

This powerfully aromatic herb, native to the Mediterranean, has lovely blue, butterfly-attracting flowers and blue-grey foliage. Despite its origin, though, it flourishes in cooler climates and is a staple in British gardens.

In culinary terms, rosemary is best used with a certain amount of discretion, since this resinous, slightly bitter-tasting herb, with its notes of camphor and nutmeg, can be strong.

It is a natural accompaniment to roast meat – so much so that, in Italy and France, butchers are in the habit of giving customers a small bunch to cook with their purchase.

The partnership with lamb is perhaps best known – tiny sprigs of rosemary, slivers of garlic and sometimes anchovy are inserted into slits in a leg of lamb before roasting – but it works well in most robust savoury dishes and is particularly good scattered over sautéed potatoes or roast squash towards the end of cooking.

It also makes a surprisingly successful addition to desserts; poach a sprig or two with autumn fruits, add it to an apple pie or use it to flavour a dark chocolate ganache or mousse. Rosemary flowers can be frozen in ice cubes to make a pretty addition to summer cocktails.

How to grow rosemary 

Rosemary is easy to grow, particularly if it is propagated from cuttings. Plant in a sunny spot and prune regularly to prevent it from getting lanky. Water evenly.

Eat it with 

Lamb, beef, pork, veal, rabbit, chicken, peppers, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, cabbage, parsnips, squash, oily fish, lentils, anchovies, olives, chocolate, apples, pears, plums, oranges.

Why not try?

If you have a mature rosemary bush in your garden, strip the leaves from a few stout branches and use the stalks as skewers for seafood or chicken kebabs, sharpening the ends first.

Rosemary for healing

An infusion of rosemary can be taken for tiredness and headaches; a massage rub can soothe aching joints; inhaling essential oil from a tissue can stimulate the brain. Researchers are looking into the use of rosemary to enhance memory performance.

Our thanks to Caz for sharing.

You can find her beautiful book, Herbarium, here.