As a spice, use dried leaves, which are ground before consumption into powder. They have a strong aroma, sweet and camphor smell, reminiscent of the smell of pine, very spicy and slightly spicy taste. In many European countries, rosemary is used as a spicy plant and is added to salads and sauces. Very tasty meat dishes with rosemary, it gives them a refined flavor.
No plant, perhaps, was so famous and popular in the Middle Ages as rosemary. The Romans dedicated to his goddess Venus, decorated their dwelling. There are many beliefs that rosemary can make a person happy and happy, improve sleep, mood and keep youth. At the courts of French and Italian kings, this shrub enjoyed special attention. Young branches of this plant were cut into whole sheaves, so that the queens and maids of honor take rosemary baths, treat various ailments with preparations of rosemary. He was raised to two meters in height by yard gardeners in barrels. Rosemary blooms from February to May with pale lilac flowers, with good care can re-bloom in September. A pleasant, sweet aroma of rosemary leaves, which contain many essential oils and resinous substances. The plant is thermophilic, grows in the open ground in Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and the Crimea. At temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius, its ground parts may freeze, and in spring grow again. In the northern regions, it is excavated and stored in the basement in winter. Rosemary is cultivated for medicinal purposes, as well as as a spice or decorative houseplant.
For therapeutic purposes, leaves are used, as well as buds that are harvested during flowering. In medicine, rosemary is used as a gastrointestinal, nerve-strengthening agent, and also as a stimulant for weakness and exhaustion after severe illnesses or due to excessive physical exertion.
Essential oil of rosemary is rubbed by patients in ships, paralysis, dyspepsia. It is used as an anti-inflammatory, analgesic and stimulant.
Bulgarian medicine recommends infusion of rosemary with epilepsy, with menstrual irregularities, to ease the climacteric period in women. Alkaloids of rosemary briefly increase blood pressure, increase cardiac contractions. What you need to consider when appointing this. They improve appetite, cleanse the organs of the gastrointestinal tract and regulate their activity.
In summer, spicy greens, of course, eaten fresh. And for the winter, basically, make blanks, drying them or in the oven. The main method is drying in air. Immediately after collection, the grass is picked, the yellowed, spoiled parts of the plant are removed. The greens are tied in small bundles and suspended to dry under a canopy, in an attic, or indoors hidden from sunlight, which kills the greens of spicy herbs. A mandatory condition for drying is ventilation (artificial or natural).
Drying in the oven is another way to prepare spices. The greens are also sorted, the impurities are removed and laid out in a thin layer on a baking sheet, which is placed in the oven for 2-3 hours at a temperature of 35-40 degrees. The withered greens is dried at a temperature of 50 degrees and no more, because at high temperatures, aromatic substances evaporate, vitamins are destroyed. Drying is carried out with the door open, taking breaks for 3-4 hours, a heap of greens. Correctly dried spice is ground into a powder with a sieve, then packaged in a dry jar of dark glass (ideal) and closed tightly with lids. Store spices in a shaded place.