I love the African basil as do the bees on the flowers. I use it in
roasts and stews with other "leaves" as my son calls them. Most recently,
I made a chicken with a top from the African basil, a bay leaf from my
bay tree, a handful oregano (sweet marjoram), a top of my sage, and a
handful of lemon grass leaves.

Wad it all up and stuff the chicken cavity with some chopped garlic and
all those leaves I mentioned, and wowee... the teenagers came in and
said, "What is that you are cooking?!"

I would probably never try to do pesto with African basil as it IS strong
like that fuzzy Greek oregano. I also like the holy basil and the thai
basil and use those in Pho dishes with beef broth and noodles.

My son used to hate the "leaves" I put in everything, but now he loves
cooking and will not eat anything without some "leaves" in it. Cooking is
his favorite class in school, and who knows maybe CIA?

African basil and Thanksgiving day turkey sage make a nice combo planting
with their flowers and lots of bees come to drink the nectar.

Best to All -- Gae

Steve Coyle wrote:

Howdy folks,
I checked with my neighbor and he did plant last year, African
Blue Basil in the tree ring. I took the pictures of that garden in
August because I was looking for a garden in Austin that looked good
at the hottest time of the year ( and in my neighborhood, "North of
Hyde Park", as we like to say ,there weren't many. )
He said he did cook with the African Blue Basil but it is very
strong, and I'm guessing an aquired taste, so I wouldn't expect to use
it as a substitute for Sweet Basil and expect the same flavor in a
recipe. I did see one cooking website that suggested cooking the
stronger basils with Italian flat leaf Parsley to soften the flavor.

" ( ?! ) " as we say in Chess.

Steve Coyle
www,austingardencenter.com