herbs from garden: borage and sage

Hi fellow gardeners and eaters--

I'm growing borage for the first time. What do I do with it?! It's gi-normous, pretty, and prickly. I read it could be used in lemonade and the flowers could be candied, but I'm not sure how to go about either. Use the leaves like mint? Also, it's quite difficult to pick as it is almost as spiky as a thistle.

The sage I know how to cook with, but I'm wondering how to "break it down" so to speak, in order to make sage gnocci, etc. I made fried sage leaves the other night which were so earthy and good, I'm wondering what to do with them besides eat them immediately.

Thanks as usual!

Messy!

You are really into vegetable trivia today, aren't you?

I checked several books, then hit my trusty resource: Women's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery, which you could buy each book of the series while on your weekly shopping trip to Jewel in the early 1970's. Let me digress further before answering your question. My Dad bought several books of the series as a present for my Mom. For some reason, it didn't occur to my Mom to pick up the remaining books. So over the years, I used the first few books and picked up the remaining parts in used book stores. You can snicker at the origins but they have some interesting articles written by the likes of James Beard and such. If they disapeered, I would hunt down another set.

Anyway to paraphrase:

Borage (Borago officinalis) is an annual which grows 1.5 to 2.5 feet with grayish green appearance due to a covering of grayish hairs and blue star shaped flowers. This herb is native to Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, the Mediterranean coasts, Persia and Sicily, it has spread all over the world. Growing in temperate and warm climates it is chiefly found in the Eastern United States.

Borage became known as a dispeller of melancholy and bearer of courage. Greeks crushed tender leaves and put it in their wine. "I, Borage, bring courage," rhyme the English. In Queen Elizabeth's time the flowers, as well as the leaves, were used in salads. Borage was among the plants cultivated by Columbus' crew on Isabella Island.

Fresh borage leaves, when very young and not too fuzzy, may be cooked and eaten like spinach or added to tomato and cucumber salads. Fresh or dried, borage flavors soups, stews, green peas, green beans and other vegetables. The flowering tips and leaves add interest to fruit dishes and iced drinks, and the flowers can be candied or crystallized.

Country Bowl Salad
Slice 3 large tomatoes, 1 peeled and scored cucumber, 1 medium green pepper and 1 sweet onion. Arrange in a serving bowl, then add fresh borage leaves. Serve with your favorite dressing (C2: they certainly went out on a limb on that idea!

I checked in Epicurious with no results. Checked Foodtv.com where they had 4 recipes, one being a fritter and a St. Joseph Day soup. I also just googled 'borage recipe' to find several more ideas. Since you know where these plants are prominent, then look in greek or italian references.

BTW, just looked at the flowers, it very much reminds me of my sage in flower. I think it is a good idea to look for sage recipes in parallel to borage.

I have read other references to Borage in the past but nothing comes to mind this moment.

Was looking for something completely different and came across this post - I keep Borage in my garden, myself. Mostly, it's good to have around because it attracts lots of pollinating bees; it increases the yeild of your other plants.

As far as uses goes, I've only used the flowers, which have a cucumber-like flavor that's nice in dressings and salads.(most cucumber-flavored bottled dressings use borage in some way)

Keep an eye on it, though - it bolts quickly and is invasive once it goes to seed.

I love borage flowers - and yes, they do taste a great deal like cucumber. They're a beautiful topping for a salad and I've also used them on little open-faced chicken salad party sandwiches.

I'll have to check into the other uses that were mentioned...

If you can find The Complete Book of Herbs & Spices by Sarah Garland, there is quite a bit of information on borage, including crystallizing the flowers, candying the roots, using the herb ito flavor cheese, wine, and canneloni, and two or three other uses.

It's so fun when old posts come up again! Not only for the info, but for feeling flattered

I discontinued my community garden in Evanston, not because the Borage took over (which it did and I got many thistle-slivers from ) but it was just too much to keep up with when I could only get there once every week or so. Anyway, the Borage was quite lovely but grew to an immense size and was difficult to pull out at the end of the season (hence the slivers). When I have a garden again I will make another attempt, and keep it under better control. FWIW, it grew like crazy even under my extreme drought conditions.

This spring I will grow herbs in pots, including lots of sage, which did well last year. Of course lots of basil, parsley, cilantro, and thyme. I really miss having a garden, but it's not feasible right now (sniff, wipe tear away ).