Blow Away Your Taste Buds: An Aquaponic Basil Taste-Test
“HA! ooooo wow, whaaaat… tart? I kind of want to put it on ice cream.” — Liz Cormack
The best thing about growing your own food is discovery. When a person experiences a new smell or taste for the first time ever, reactions like Liz’s are not unusual. And supermarkets cater to only a tiny fraction of the flavors that exist on our planet. A tiny fraction.
You might already enjoy wine tasting, or discovering different kinds of chocolate. Might I suggest that growing heirloom plants from seed is even more fun than that. Today, I harvested five different basil varieties that we grew in our aquaponic systems, both leaves and flowers, and took them around the office to gauge some reactions. Aquaponic basil tasting was a hit!
Thank you to Baker Creek for the seeds!
1) Emily Basil
We originally started growing this variety because we enjoy having its human counterpart, Emily, on the Grove team. We quickly discovered that the basil version of Emily is the more aromatic of the two though. Emily Basil is perfect for our growing needs. It is a compact version of your standard Italian genovese and fits nicely in a grove. It grows quickly and easily and is punchy in the flavor department. It is something that you would use for cooking when you were looking for the good ol’ basil taste that everyone is used to. There are probably tastier exotic options for basil greens if you are using it raw, but for cooking with basil, Emily is a reliable option.
“Good for cooking, not so good raw. Basil-y, more spicy.” — Z
“I’m more likely to throw this on my sandwich”. — Charles
“Rough, but a strong burst of flavor. I would use this for cooking.” — Liz
2) Siam Queen Thai Basil
What a surprising taste! This basil variety surprised me in every way, but I was most impressed with its versatility. The flavor, which resembles that of anise or fennel, would add a unique element to any salad, it has the punch to be useful in cooking and the flowers not only look pretty but are delicious little flavor bombs. This variety grows well using the suspended root growing technique used in our groves. It grows to a comfortable size for an indoor system, and the intriguing streaks of purple in the leaves break up the sea of green.
“Tastes like licorice! Good for salads and maybe some soups. It tastes better raw than your classic Italian.” — Z
“Interesting… unlike any other basil I’ve ever had. Like a cup of tea. Bold, pepperminty.” — Liz
*elongated sniff* “I was told when I worked on a farm that I had a very excellent smell sense, and taste sense, because I smelled the wines and got them right. Slightly aniseedy.” — Em
3) Red Freddy Genovese Basil
This basil has a deep purple hue. It’s color, (and corresponding anthocyanin content), are the main reasons you would want grow this variety. A bed of green genovese with some red plants spotted throughout it is a beautiful thing. It grows well in our groves, but will grow too tall if you aren’t diligent about topping it. It tastes like your regular green variety, but is perhaps not quite as tasty. It is a little rough texture wise, with a raw flavor that is uncomfortably dominating — so grow this one for aesthetics and for cooking. Those are its strengths — and they weren’t fairly demonstrated in this raw taste test.
“Less pleasant… it attacks you in a not good way.” — Charles
“Not much smell, interesting texture. Sandpapery taste” — Gabe
“Don’t like it, tastes soapy.” — Liz
4) Cinnamon Basil
Another one with delicious flowers, so don’t be afraid to let it keep going once it buds. This guy grew well and to a manageable size, but the cinnamon flavor only came out after it had grown to maturity and I restricted the water flow a little. You can do the same in your grove by removing the stand pipe strainer in the shallow grow bed to lower the water level. Once I did that, wow, henceforth marched the cinnamon-iness. This is a specialty Mexican variety and it will add spice to any salad or burrito. It also looks gorgeous, with dainty pointed leaves and a compact flower cluster. Give it a go!
“The flowers are really pretty. It smells like GUM!” — Dave
“It has a cotton candy kind of feel to it” — Louis
“Strong. Right away. This one’s good, nice, medium balanced flavor. Subtle, but consistent.” — Liz
“Whoah that smells like a spa I want to get a massage right now. We should do cocktails.” — Em
5) Lemon Basil
I left this one until last because it got the most animated reactions. Like the name suggests, it tastes like lemon. It is a culinary surprise high five — it doesn’t taste like it should be a green leaf and it will change your perception of green things. Unfortunately it isn’t much to look at as it grows — it has tiny leaves and looks stringy compared to other basils — but if you persist the flavor will blow you away. I’m not kidding, it tastes explosively awesome. Let it flower and the flowers can be used to make your breath smell better. I want to try cooking up some rainbow trout with this basil, I suspect that it could be the tastiest thing I could ever cook. If I cook it for a girl she will probably propose to me.
“Wooooow! That is delicious! It’s like a lemon drop. If your kid ate that instead of sugar that would be so mind altering.” — Louis
“HA! ooooo wow what… tart? I kind of want to put it on ice cream.” — Liz
Brooks: “We should boil it, and then pour the water into ice cube trays…”
Em: “Yeah that’s already a thing.”
Brooks: “Yes, Emily, I know it’s a thing, that is why I’m saying it.”
Em: “Yep. Crush the cubes, make lemonade. It’s a thing. Tastes kind of like elder flower. It would be good in a lemonade.”
“It tastes how good soap smells but not how soap tastes. It doesn’t taste soapy at all. But the smell, good smell, like good soap, but the taste is good not soapy… The flowers are delicious.” — Brooks
These are only five of the many varieties of basil. Food is supposed to be social, and growing fun varieties in your home to share with friends is about as social as you can get. Happy growing!
Originally published at blog.grovelabs.io.
