Sometimes when I am cooking with certain herbs I find myself humming or singing that well known song by Simon and Garfunkel, Scarborough Fair. I’m sure you can hear that familiar folk tune bouncing around in your head now. As I sing the words:
parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
I especially wonder about rosemary. This may be my own personal opinion, but it seems to me that rosemary is the least popular of these four herbs. The meals that I prepare over and over again don’t seem to include this herb as part of the recipe. It’s almost as if this medieval herb has been forgotten or replaced with something else. Perhaps I should expand my recipe collection to include more meals cooked with rosemary. With its piney fragrance and pungent flavor, it is a wonderful herb that adds great flavor. If I had to pick a favorite recipe that includes this herb, it would be rosemary bread.
It’s interesting to me that this herb is all but forgotten to me, because rosemary has long been used as a symbol of love and remembrance. I have viewed pictures and read stories from all over the world that include bride, groom and their guests adorned with branches of this delicate herb. Rosemary is also used in funerals. The herb is sometimes placed in the hands of the deceased or can be sprinkled on the grave, symbolizing eternal love and remembrance for a deceased loved one.
So maybe that is why Simon and Garfunkel sing about this herb in the lyrics of the old folk song.
Remember me to one who lives there. She once was a true love of mine.
The lyrics are about a man trying to find true love. At the Medieval Scarborough Fair, the herbs mentioned in the song represented the qualities that were important to the lyrics. Especially rosemary, the herb of love. It represented love and remembrance of his one true love.
The next time you bake rosemary bread, take a moment to savor the minty aroma. The smells in your kitchen will serve as a reminder of love and remembrance to those special people in your life now, and to those who are no longer on this earth with us.
