Sage, Salvia Officinalis, is a very popular garden herb which is grown in many gardens in Europe. It is a pretty evergreen shrub, which has aromatic wrinkled silvery leaves and bears small blue/purple or white flowers throughout June and July. It grows to about 24 inches or 60 centimeters wide, and the same height.

Cooking Uses
The leaves are best used fresh from the garden. And also you can dry them in the airing cupboard,or hang them up somewhere dark and airy, to be used at any time of the year. When dry simply crumble them up to fit in a dark jar with a tightly fitting lid to prevent damp getting in. If they are not properly dried, or if they get damp, they will go mouldy and have to be thrown away. But if you do not have a garden, they can be bought from any supermarket.

Sage is commonly added to stuffings for chicken, pork and duck. Although ready made stuffings are easy to come by, if you take the time to make your own they taste much nicer. It also goes well with cheese, tomatoes, and dairy foods.

The strong flavour of the fresh leaves also goes well with liver, or eels.
For mixed herbs, combine sage with marjoram and thyme. This makes a good addition to stews, and can also be sprinkled on bread or pizza before cooking.

The Saxons used sage in beer making, and it was also widely drunk before tea was introduced to Europe. If grown with cabbage, it is reputed to improve the flavour of the cabbage, and make it more easy to digest.

Healing Properties of Sage
Ancient: 'It stays the bleeding of wounds, and can be used to cleanse foul ulcers or sores. Three spoonfulls of the juice taken fasting, with a little honey, stops the casting of blood in those with consumption. The juice taken in warm water, helps hoarseness and cough. Drank with vinegar, it is good for the plague.'*

Modern: It is still a popular treatment for sore throats and coughs, and also tonsillitis, when used as a gargle.It can reduce perspiration, and also the flow of milk when a child is weaned. It also helps to dry up a cold, stop diarrhea and enteritis. If an infusion is sweetened with honey and taken in doses of two fluid ounces, or 56 ml, it aids stomach pain because it helps to relieve wind.

* Culpeppers Colour Herbal.

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