BASIL BASICS

In a wide-ranging culinary tour, Rachel Allen uses the floral flavour of basil, which is beloved of both Italian and south-east Asian cooks. Photography by Tony Gavin

The sweet, floral notes of basil make it the most summery of herbs. I love to throw the bright-green leaves, whether whole or torn or chopped, into soups, salads and summer stews.

Basil’s aniseed aromas and peppery taste make it the perfect herb companion for tomatoes. In fact, apart from perhaps lamb and rosemary, I know of no more suitable herb pairing. Basil’s flavour just works so well with a tomato. The classic Caprese salad doesn’t just use basil for its green colour, to echo the Italian flag — for a simple salad, no other herb works as well as basil with some fresh tomatoes.

Pesto is the boldest expression of basil. It’s all about the basil and should never be too garlicky or too oily. All the other ingredients should only serve to enhance the flavour of the basil. A simple dish of pasta with pesto needn’t be just a student stand-by. It can be an elegant and bold dish that is wonderfully aromatic.

I usually use a food processor to make pesto, as it is more convenient, but a pestle and mortar is the traditional method of making it. The stone pestle and mortar pounds and grinds the basil, releasing its aromas without heating it, which can diminish the flavour.

While basil is undeniably a fundamental to Italian food, it is just as important to the cooking of south-east Asia.

I always remember the wonderful basil-laden red curries I had in Thailand. There, people usually use Thai basil, whose leaves are straighter and the stems purple. The flavour has more pronounced aniseed and is less peppery than regular basil. Thai basil is available in Asian food shops and it is worth seeking out for Asian recipes — the flavour stands up better to heat than other varieties of basil. If you can find it, purple basil has a similar flavour and, of course, it has a magnificent and unusual colour.