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Herb of the Month

Remembering Rosemary: Rosmarinus Officinalis

Last month was thyme and now it's rosemary, a close relative with a similar--and possibly even more dramatic--role in cuisine and healing. Ophelia's painful herb of "remembrance" is a bush two to four feet high at maturity, with woody stems. Rosemary is the only member of the Labiatiae (mint) family with leaves like pine needles. Small white to blue-violet flowers grow near the ends of branches, and the entire plant has a spicy, pungent odor, especially when you brush against it. The needle-leaves have a taste especially prized in mediterranean cooking. There are many horticultural varieties. In my home state of California, where mediterranean plants do very well, a vine-like version is used as a groundcover along sidewalks and even freeways.

The first records of rosemary being used as a healing agent come from Northern Africa. It is thought that teas and tinctures of rosemary can help with digestion (by stimulating enzymes); with colds and flu (by promoting sweating and loosening phlegm); with infections (by stimulating the immune system); and with clear thinking, mental energy, and memory.

Rosemary also is said to increase estrogen and to help with premenstrual depression--as well as with confusion, sleep loss, dry skin and other problems that can begin when a woman's estrogen diminishes at menopause. In addition rosemary has helped with depression that stems from mental or physical overwork or chronic illness.

A friend of mine recently discovered a deep personal connection to rosemary, or at least to a particular rosemary plant. While learning to live more in balance after surgery and chemotherapy for breast cancer, she found herself drawn to an energetic-looking clump of this herb in her backyard garden. Picture a huge dark green mass a full five feet tall shaped like writhing serpents--a little like the cypress trees painted by Van Gogh in Provence. (This friend lives in California where, as I said, rosemary really thrives.) The plant was obviously healthy, its leaves exuding a fragrance that was almost sharp. Neither of us knew, then, that herbalists use rosemary for exactly her condition--to strengthen the immune system, promote tissue repair, stimulate hair growth, and energize those debilitated by overwork and chronic illness.

Fortunately the holistic practitioners she was seeing alongside her conventional doctors encouraged her to pay attention to her intuitions--to use this remarkable rosemary plant in any way she could. In a spirit of joyous relief, she brought branches of it into the house, wrote about it, drew and painted it and--yes--talked to it. She even let me make a favorite rosemary recipe for her. She will probably not be surprised to learn from a reprinted university wellness letter that rosemary has just been found to have special potency in working with breast cancer. In a recent experiment with laboratory rats at Penn State, a diet of 1% rosemary powder apparently blocked development of breast cancer cells in 76% of the subjects.

Other schools of health also find rosemary potent. Flower Essence therapists use rosemary flowers to stimulate the energy of self-healing when people don't feel secure in their physical bodies. Aromatherapy practitioners find the fragrant oil useful for varicose veins, dandruff and hair loss, digestive and circulatory problems, and aching or sprained joints, including arthritis. Inhaling the aroma of rosemary oil may also help relieve headaches, even migraines.

Herbalists say that rosemary is literally heartwarming; it stimulates circulation and the heart, relieving chills (even hypothermia), and helping with anemia, low blood pressure, and cardiac problems. As one medieval author said of rosemary tea, "The spirits of the heart and the entire body feel joy from this drink, which dispels all despondency and worry."

Ever since I read in Homer how Greek adventurers grilled whole muttons over the holy smoke of rosemary wood growing beside the sea, I have wanted to incorporate this herb in my cooking. In my carnivorous days, I roasted large quantities of it with lamb and chicken, especially combining it with garlic. Now I use the same combination sauteed in plenty of olive oil to flavor a simple tomato sauce for pasta and to substitute for butter on grilled garlic bread.

My favorite dish--the one I made for my California friend--is a very simple main course feast of aromatic roasted vegetables. In a large shallow casserole or roasting pan, I crush several garlic cloves and chop a handful of fresh rosemary into a few tablespoons of olive oil. Usually I also add fresh chopped sage. (Both herbs can be bitter if you use them too heavily, but at the same time you need enough for a hearty taste.) I fill the casserole with root vegetables like turnips, onions, carrots, potatoes or even beets, cut into inch-wide cubes (unless I'm in a big hurry and need shorter cooking time, in which case I cut them as small as a half-inch). Unpeeled winter squash is also a good choice, and I often cut up some more delicate vegetables like red peppers, green beans, or mushrooms to add partway through the cooking.

Toss and mix the contents of the casserole, coating every chunk with a mixture of oil and herbs. Roast in the oven at 350 to 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until the vegetables seem done when tested with a fork. You can cover the casserole or not, as you like, but you need to toss the vegetables occasionally and leave the lid off for ten minutes or so near the end to allow a delicious, sizzly crust to develop. This dish fills your home with a warmth and aroma that itself feels healing.

If you are growing rosemary outdoors, it probably won't outlast the New England winter without special measures, so here are three suggestions. You can say goodbye to the plant, thank it, and harvest all its branches (hanging them to dry for winter vegetable roasts and teas). Or you can try mulching it with a blanket of dry leaves at least a foot thick and held in place against winter winds with a network of sticks or branches. A third alternative is to dig up the plant and put it in a pot to keep inside on a sunny windowsill. (You need to do this while it is still unweakened by frost.) This way you'll have the aroma--and a few fresh branches for cooking--all winter long.

Louise Dunlap teaches yoga and writing, and is working on a book called Writing for Social Change.