WHISPER MY SECRET
  • Home
  • Photos of Myrtle & family
  • JB's Blog
  • Contact

Celebrating Myrtle with Food

16/10/2020

21 Comments

 
Do you know what connects my mother to George Clooney?

In the last post we celebrated my mother Myrtle’s connection to Queen Victoria through love. Love also connects Myrtle to George Clooney. It’s true! He once boldly declared: “I love myrtle.” 

As you will discover later in this blog, Clooney was thinking more of ingestion than matters of the heart. Myrtle (Myrtus communis) has been recognised as an important ingredient in food dishes in Mediterranean countries for hundreds of years. For example, on the Italian island of Sardinia, whose food products George Clooney has expressed an appreciation for, myrtle is used regularly in cooking and is a feature of traditional Sardinian dishes. 

Tacculas is one of those dishes. Myrtle is a significant flavour in this ancient Sardinian poultry dish. To prepare tacculas, the birds (usually thrush) are plucked, washed and boiled in salted water. After the thrush are cooked, they are tied together using sprigs of myrtle, wrapped in myrtle leaves and left to cool for several hours on a bed of myrtle to absorb the intense aroma.
Picture
Another traditional Sardinian dish often served as part of wedding feasts is Porccedu (roasted suckling piglet) which makes use of the readily available myrtle growing all over the island. The stuffed piglet is roasted over juniper and myrtle to produce a moist, tangy roast.

But generous myrtle offers up more than her leaves; her dark purple berries have a culinary use too. The Italian sausage mortadella is seasoned with myrtle berries. And despite their slightly bitter taste, in some places the berries are eaten fresh from the bush while in other places, dried myrtle berries are used as a substitute for black pepper, known as Corsican Pepper. Now I know why Mum loved pepper on her food!

​An even more exotic use of myrtle berries is transforming them into a liqueur. To make this apéritif, soak the washed berries in vodka for several weeks then squeeze them to extract most of the liquid. Mix the liquid with sugar syrup or honey and store in a bottle in the fridge. 
Picture

Or you could break the budget and buy a bottle of Mirto, the traditional Sardinian drink made from myrtle berries. This is the myrtle George Clooney was talking about when he said he loved myrtle. He believes it is his elixir of youth. I’m sure if he had met my mother Myrtle he would have loved her too. :)

​Although Mum didn’t use the herb she was named after in her cooking, I do associate her with food. To stay the hunger pangs of her growing brood, she used to bake tray after tray of patty cakes, many of which disappeared into small hands before she had transferred them from oven to table.

At other times when we wanted something sweet, we spread our bread thick with jam Mum had made with plums picked from the tree in our orchard. She also cooked big frypans full of mushrooms after taking us out on long walks into the paddocks to gather them (along with fresh blackberries). The smell of cooked meat and roast potatoes permeated the house on Sunday mornings leading up to our Sunday Roast feast: lamb from the neighbouring farm, potatoes, pumpkin and peas all harvested from our vegetable garden.

Unlike George Clooney, my mother preferred to drink tea. Had she known about it, she might have enjoyed pots of myrtle tea. This beverage is good for alleviating the symptoms of colds and flu as myrtle contains a compound similar to aspirin and an expectorant that helps to get rid of mucus. But now I’m digressing into the health benefits of myrtle – a story for another post.

Until next time... JB (aka Brigid George)

For a free murder mystery from Brigid George CLICK HERE!

21 Comments
Profile Builder Pro Nulled link
6/9/2022 02:11:49 am

Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://freecodezilla.net/profile-builder-pro-nulled-free/

Reply
site kurma link
12/9/2022 07:13:47 am

Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://kurma.website/

Reply
website kurma link
15/9/2022 12:08:23 pm

Really informative article, I had the opportunity to learn a lot, thank you. https://bit.ly/site-kurma

Reply
site kurma link
30/9/2022 09:04:31 pm

It's great to have this type of content. Good luck with your spirit. Thank you. https://bit.ly/site-kurma

Reply
erfelek escort link
5/10/2022 07:51:23 am

I think this post is useful for people. It has been very useful for me. Looking forward to the next one, thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/sinop-escort/erfelek-escort/

Reply
agli escort link
6/10/2022 05:11:20 pm

I follow your posts closely. I can find it thanks to your reliable share. Thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/kastamonu-escort/agli-escort/

Reply
hakkari escort link
7/10/2022 01:25:45 am

I support your continuation of your posts. I will be happy as new posts come. Thank you. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/hakkari-escort/

Reply
kuyucak escort link
8/10/2022 06:36:03 pm

Thank you for your sharing. I must say that I am successful in your content. https://escortnova.com/escort-ilanlari/aydin-escort/kuyucak-escort/

Reply
Korsan Taksi link
14/11/2022 12:21:29 am

Sitemizi ziyaret et: https://taksikenti.com/

Reply
betinfo link
23/11/2022 01:20:33 pm

It was a successful post.These types of posts are very helpful.

Reply
evden iş imkanı link
23/11/2022 08:42:19 pm

Hemen Göz At evde para kazanmaya basla: https://sites.google.com/view/evden-ek-is/

Reply
mrbahis link
7/12/2022 10:24:32 am

Congratulations for the successful article. I can't wait for the sequel.

Reply
mrbahis link
9/12/2022 08:58:30 am

This is nice work. Seeing good works on good days gives one peace of mind.

Reply
takipçi satın al link
11/12/2022 05:26:34 pm

Düşmeyen bot takipçi satın al: https://takipcialdim.com/

Reply
instagram beğeni satın al link
11/12/2022 07:28:20 pm

İnstagram beğeni takipçi satın al: https://takipcialdim.com/instagram-begeni-satin-al/

Reply
tiktok takipçi satın al link
11/12/2022 07:30:04 pm

Tiktok takipçi satın almak için tıkla: https://takipcialdim.com/tiktok-takipci-satin-al/

Reply
takipçi satın al link
17/12/2022 12:20:42 pm

takipci satın almak için tıkla: https://takipcim.com.tr/

Reply
betmatik link
20/12/2022 07:05:11 pm

Betmatik giriş adresine ulaşmak için tıkla.

Reply
betpark link
21/12/2022 08:31:54 pm

Betpark giriş adresi burada.

Reply
casino siteleri link
29/12/2022 06:34:46 pm

online casino oyna: http://haikuboy.com

Reply
100 tl bonus veren siteler link
6/1/2023 10:21:54 pm

100 tl deneme bonusu veren siteleri öğrenmek istiyorsan tıkla.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author


    My name is JB Rowley. My full name is June Barnes-Rowley, but friends started calling me JB many years ago. I live in Melbourne, Australia.

    I also write murder mysteries under the pen name Brigid George.

    I also teach English to students of all ages. Learn more at ENGLISH TUITION.

    Archives

    March 2021
    October 2020
    August 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    March 2018
    February 2018
    February 2017
    April 2015

    Categories

    All
    #1 In Australia At Last
    JB Rowley
    Mother Of Ten
    Myrtle & Handle's Opera
    Not Fiction
    Understanding Whisper My Secret
    Whisper My Secret

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Photos of Myrtle & family
  • JB's Blog
  • Contact