HYSSOP: HOW TO PREPARE
Vegetable Hotpot
1/2 stick celery
4 medium carrots
2 small onions Chopped cabbage Mustard or cress sprouts 4 tablespoons oil
1 cup stock
2 tablespoons cornflour Small handful hyssop leaves Salt and cayenne pepper
Wash and dice all the vegetables (except the sprouts), and add to the hot oil, tossing to coat them evenly. Saute over moderate heat for several minutes. Add the hyssop and seasonings, then add the stock, cover and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the sprouts just at the last minute, heat through and serve immediately. Do not overcook, as the vegetables should be crisp and chewy.
It is frequently used in the perfume industry, its concentrated oils being blended with other fragrances in eau-de-Cologne.
Plant hyssop as a low hedge around the vegetable patch. Its flowers will bring the bees, and its roots have been found to cleanse the soil and keep many soil pests at bay. Don’t, however, grow it near radishes: the two plants are not compatible, and the radishes will have poor flavour.
Hyssop has also been found to improve the yield from grapevines if planted along the rows, particularly if the terrain is rocky or sandy, and the soil not as easy to work as it might be. So add another plant to the list of those that can improve the health and productivity of food crops. Some day soon, as man’s distrust of artificial growing methods forces him to turn back to Nature, all these green natural “chemical factories” will once again be given the opportunity to work for us.
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Tags: Herbal