December/January 1993
By Madalene Hill and Gwen Barclay
Sage Recipes:
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Garden sage (known also as common sage or sausage sage) has a long and honored past. This herb was believed to improve memory and bestow wisdom and long life; some thought it could bring immortality, and it was often planted on graves. One well-known aphorism asks: “Why should a man die whilst sage grows in his garden?”
Given its respected place in history, it’s ironic that sage is so little appreciated in the modern kitchen. All too often, old dried sage is stuck in a cabinet over the stove and pulled out only when it’s time to stuff the holiday turkey. One little old lady told us, “You know, I’ve had my jar of sage for at least ten years, and it’s still good.” It may be good enough for her purposes, but we know it can’t compare with sage that’s fresh from the garden.
The genus Salvia comprises more than 800 species, many of them showy and fragrant. Garden sage (S. officinalis), the most widely known and used of the salvias, is an erect perennial shrub with gray-green, pungent, distinctively pebbly leaves on long stems that become woody with age. It produce lovely spikes of lavender to purple flowers in midsummer. Grown easily from seed or cuttings, the species is quite variable, producing a range of leaf and flower hues.
Sage grows wild along the Mediterranean coast. It is found in the Adriatic Coast regions of Croatia and Dalmatia, where the gathering of sage traditionally has been a cottage industry. Dalmatian sage has always been considered of the finest quality and has been traded throughout Europe.
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