Pam Corbin
LATIN NAME
Aloysia triphylla
ALSO KNOWN AS
Lemon beebrush
SEASONALITY
May–October
The elegant, lanceolate leaves of lemon verbena are heady with an exquisite citrus-floral scent. It’s hardly surprising the perfume industry values it almost as highly as we do.
This is one herb you definitely need to grow yourself because you won’t find it in the shops – and it will reward you with refreshing notes to perfume a profusion of dishes and thirst-quenching drinks. A deciduous perennial, lemon verbena loves sun and shelter: a south- or west-facing situation is ideal. The glossy, shapely foliage is late to show, appearing in early summer, with the delicate, pale lilac flowers following a little later.
This is a pungent herb. It contains much more of the lemony tasting compound citral than you find in an actual lemon. Sometimes you only need to infuse freshly cut verbena leaves in liquid to enjoy their flavour. To make a soothing herbal tea, brew 2 or 3 leaves – alone, or with a sprig of mint in the cup. Scale up the quantities to form the base of a vibrant verbena cordial. Or steep verbena in warm milk or cream to make fragrant crème brûlées and ice cream (1 leafy sprig will suffice for 500ml).
The scented leaves can be pummelled with a pestle and mortar, then added to vinegar and salad dressings. Or you can chop them finely and mix them into stuffings for chicken and pork, or fold them into couscous or grain dishes. Alternatively, chopped and frozen into ice cubes, they will uplift soft drinks and cocktails.
The leaves are waxy and can be slightly tough, so use a sharp, heavy knife to deal with them efficiently. Their robust quality makes them the ideal mould for chocolate leaves. Carefully coat the underside of each leaf thickly and evenly with melted chocolate, then place on baking parchment to set, before peeling off the leaf to reveal a perfect chocolate specimen.
The leaves are also easy to dry, and retain their gorgeous fragrance well. Pick stems on a sunny day, lay them on a wire rack and dry in an airing cupboard or very low oven. Use to make tisanes or crumble and add to caster sugar for cake-baking.
This fragrant, lemony rice is beautiful with a Thai green curry but also good on its own. Serves 4 as a side dish
1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
1 large garlic clove, grated
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
200g basmati rice, well rinsed and drained
500ml light veg stock
12 lemon verbena leaves
1 red onion
A knob of butter
Sea salt and black pepper
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the garlic, coriander and turmeric with a twist each of salt and pepper, and fry gently, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Add the rice, stir well and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the stock and verbena leaves and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat, put the lid on the pan and cook gently for 15–18 minutes until the rice is tender and the stock has been absorbed.
Remove the pan from the heat, fluff the rice up with a fork, then replace the lid and let the pilaf sit for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, thinly slice the red onion from root to tip. Heat a small knob of butter in a medium frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sliced onion and fry for 8–10 minutes, stirring regularly, until just starting to crisp.
Heap the rice into a warmed serving dish (you can leave the lemon verbena in it but you probably won’t want to actually eat the leaves, as they are quite tough). Top with the fried onion and serve.