Daily Diary Excerpt

Today’s Diary Entry is a little anecdote about Chef Casella’s most favorite herb.

Rosemary

Rosemary is my favorite herb, but since it is such a staple in Tuscan cooking, I think it is under appreciated. Whenever I have the chance, I try to promote rosemary. For black-tie functions, I always put few sprigs in my tuxedo pocket; when I’m working I mix it with other herbs and carry them in the pocket of my chef’s jacket. I use rosemary as a bed to grill sea bass, as skewers for roasted meats, and to garnish french-fries. At Vipore I used to grow bushes of rosemary, some as big as trees. One year, I had almost 1000 plants, which were too many, even for me. When we cut them back, there were enough trimmings to fill a dump truck, so we decided to make a bonfire. As the rosemary was burning, we wet the fire so it would smoke. The whole countryside was filled with the scent of roasting rosemary.