African Nunum - this huge basil can reach 3' in height and has a wonderful flavor especially for pesto with a hint of spicy oregano. Use in salads, soups, pastas, vinegars, jellies and PESTO. Heavy textured leaf this basil orignated from Ghana. Know as clove basil in the East Indies. Cardinal - delicious, fragrant culinary basil that produces huge, rich purple flower heads. Spicy-sweet leaves go well in Mexican and Asian dishes as well as salads, soups and curries. Fantastic flower arrangements can be made with the basil developed in Israel. Everleaf Genovese - 18 - 24" tall with robust Genovese flavor that stand up well to cooking, is late flowering, ( up to 8 weeks later than standard basils). Everleaf Lemon - 24" tall, Everleaf has a long harvest season flowering up to 8 weeks after standard basils. Lovely in dressings, marinades and salads. Performs well in ground and in large containers. Sweeter than Mrs. Burns Lemon. Everleaf Thai Towers - 2-3' tall with medium green licorice flavored leaves and soft purple stems. As with all Everleaf Basils, Thai Towers flowers later than standard basil. Newton - 12- 20" tall, Fast growing with no licorice aftertaste. Large, bright green, crinkled leaves are great in vegetable wraps and as fresh chopped herbs. Prospera Green Prospera Red - 18 - 24" tall with shiny dark purple leaves. These Genovese type leaves are 3" long with a smooth slightly cupped shape. Lovely as an ornamental in the garden as well as culinary uses. Have downy mildew resistance. Purple Ruffles - 18 - 24" tall with fragrant, deep purple, ruffled leaves and light pink flowers. This popular basil adds distinction to salads and vinegars as well as usual basil uses. Siam Queen - 30 - 40 " tall Siam Queen is well branched, erect and sweet. The spicy fresh leaves exude an anise overtone. The 3-4" leaves are larger than standard basil and the compact inflorescences on top of the bright green plant make it ideal in ornamental gardens, patio containers or cut flower. Spicy Globe - very flavorful basil that grows in a tidy rounded globe shape. Perfect for pots, small spaces or borders. Use as you would common sweet basil. Native to India. Thai Holy Kaprao - bold and intense, authentic type of Thai basil. The delicate, slightly hairy leaves of this distinct variety are highly revered in Thailand for their piquant flavor of clove and black pepper. Use Kaprao in fried rice or stir fry or try something new - "pad krakow gai" or Thai basil chicken. This is not your sweet basil flavor but adds a whole different dimension to cooking. |
I love all herbs - medicinal, culinary and the ones I grow ornamentally, but seems I can't get enough of the different basils. They impart so much flavor in the foods I prepare, and with the use of the internet the possibilities are endless.
I have found that dehydrated - dried basil needs to be used relatively quickly or it looses its flavor. I like to freeze mine labeled in small ziplock baggies. Works great because they are easy to cut or crumble when frozen. Here's a good site for different ways to freeze basils. https://homesteadingfamily.com/how-to-freeze-basil/#:~:text=Freezing%20the%20basil%20in%20ice,friend%20when%20preserving%20fresh%20herbs. BASIL - Ocimum O. Africanum - Sacred Basil aka, Tulsi, Holy, Kapoor O. Americanum - known as American, lime (or lemon) or hoary basil (it is not native to the America's) O. Basilicum - Great Basil Cinnamon Dark Opal Genovese - sweet basil Italian Large Leaf Lemon - Mrs. Burns' var. citriodora Spicy Globe Thai - var. thyrsiflora O. Gratissimum - African Nunum or Clove basil O. Kilimandscharicum - camphor basil (African blue basil is a hybrid of camphor and dark opal basil) O. selloi - Green Pepper Basil (native to the America's) O. Tenuiflorum - Holy or Tulsi Basil (formerly known as O. sanctum As you can see, basil's share common names ie. Clove, African, Holy, Tulsi. African and Tenuiflorum are two different types of basil but share common names. |
