Italian Spices You Can Plant at Home – Planting spices, of course, provides many benefits that you will get, especially if you plant spices that are rarely found and can be said to be rare.
The use of spices in Italian cooking is an important factor in creating a distinctive taste for the country. The ingredients taken from this plant part seem to be an important component of the country’s culinary identity.
You know, even though the climate is different, the spice plants that are a mainstay of Italian culinary can also be grown in Indonesia and you can grow them at home, you know. Here are some kinds of plants.
1. Basil
Basil is one of the most popular plants in the world with a basil-like aroma. Not only can the leaves be used as a complement to dishes such as salads and pizza, the flowers of the basil plant can also be consumed.
When winter abroad, the growth of this plant will be stunted because it prefers an environment with warm temperatures. Therefore, basil is very suitable to be planted almost all year round in Indonesia.
This plant can be bred from seeds as well as stems or cuttings. If you want to plant it, don’t forget to use a loose planting medium with good drainage, and keep the media moist.
2. Thyme
This herb-like plant is known to have many health benefits. Thyme is usually used fresh or dry.
Thyme is an aromatic and antibacterial perennial plant. This plant can thrive in Indonesia, even some of its types become wild plants in rice fields.
By growing thyme at home, you can use it as a mixture of various dishes, or brew it as a tea to relieve cough symptoms.
3. Oregano
Oregano has a distinctive aroma and is stronger than basil. Generally, oregano will be dried first to get a sharper aroma before applying it to cooking.
In its cultivation, oregano is a slow growing plant. This plant likes a growing medium that tends to be dry, and requires up to six hours of direct sunlight per day.
If you are interested in planting it, make sure the media you use is porous and not too moist so that your organic roots are healthy and not easily overgrown with fungi.
4. Parsley
This plant, which is still in the same family as celery and coriander leaves, has a fragrant and fresh aroma. This plant is commonly used fresh as a garnish, salad, or pesto parsley, and can also be dried for a mixture in making bread.
Parsley can be grown in Indonesia, but you have to be a little patient if you want to plant it. This is because the thick seed coat gives the parsley plant a long germination period.
Even though it is quite old, you can still do this by soaking the seeds in warm water for one night to speed up the germination process or parsley seed germination.
5. Rosemary
Rosemary has many uses, including as a cooking, medicinal, and aromatherapy ingredient. In Italian cuisine, rosemary is often used for baked goods, as well as for enriching the taste of broths,
There are several things that you should pay attention to before starting to grow rosemary. Because it comes from an empay season, this plant really likes low humidity so that in tropical countries like Indonesia, rosemary is more susceptible to fungi.