Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Herb guide to African Blue Basil along with all the African Blue Basil containing recipes presented on this site, with 7 recipes in total.

e This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain African Blue Basil as a major herb flavouring.

African Blue basil, (Ocimum kilimandscharicum) is a member of the basils (see sweet basil and Thai basil) as such it's a member of the Lamiaceae (mint) family. Unlike many other basil species it is perennial rather than annual. It has a strong flavour and is much prized in Nigerian cookery (where it is known as efferin). The taste is not as pleasant as European and Thai basils, and there is a strong camphorous note. but it is quite well suited to the more robust flavours of many African dishes.

African Blue basil is also often called 'African blue', as the underside of the leaves often have a distinctive blue to purple cast (especially around the leaf veins).

Whenever an African recipe (especially a West African recipe) calls for 'basil' then it is invariably African blue basil that is referred to. The plant is very common in West Africa and is sold in just about every market. Most typically it is mixed with chillies, parsley and spices to form a green rub and marinade for barbecued fish.

In Europe, many cultivars of African Blue basil are now starting to be sold. These tend to be crosses between African basil and European 'sweet' basil that have the perennial habit of the former and the milder flavour of the latter.



For other basil variants and cultivars, see the entries on: 'Sweet' basil; Thai basil; holy basil and lemon basil.