Crimson Basil / Albahaca Crimson

Ocimum basilicum ‘Cardinal’

I have renamed Cardinal Basil as Crimson Basil because the name feels much more appropriate for this beautiful variety. If you want to search for it elsewhere, you will usually find it listed as Cardinal Basil.

I only recently discovered Cardinal Basil, which I had been calling Crimson Basil. I found some seeds, planted one in my garden, and wow. I was completely amazed.

I have grown green Genovese basil for much of my life, and it has always been one of my favourite herbs, so I know basil well. But the flavour of this Cardinal Basil took me completely by surprise. It is incredibly intense, rich, spicy and aromatic. Compared with ordinary green basil, the flavour seems almost amplified. A single leaf carries so much aroma and taste that my immediate thought was that this feels almost like a medicine.

And in many ways, basil is both food and medicine.

Basil contains a remarkable collection of aromatic and plant compounds, including linalool, eugenol and other volatile oils, together with phenolic acids and flavonoids. These compounds contribute not only to its fragrance and flavour, but also to the antioxidant and physiological properties for which basil has been studied. The chemistry of basil can vary considerably between cultivars, which helps explain why different basils can taste and smell so dramatically different from one another.

Traditionally, basil has also been used as a digestive herb, particularly when there is heaviness after eating, gas, nausea or digestive discomfort. Its aromatic nature makes sense here. When you crush a fresh basil leaf and immediately smell all of those volatile compounds being released, you are experiencing part of the plant’s chemistry before you even eat it.

What makes this Cardinal Basil even more extraordinary is the flower. The leaves are green, but above them rise these spectacular deep purple flower heads. They remind me a little of Thai basil in the way the purple emerges above the foliage, but Cardinal takes it to another level. It is almost difficult to believe that something this ornamental can also be such an incredible culinary herb.

We have now propagated it at the Living Ground Project and have successfully made babies from the original plants. I am genuinely excited to have this basil becoming part of our gardens because it is exactly the kind of plant I love: beautiful, useful, intensely aromatic, medicinal, culinary and capable of becoming part of the living garden around us.

In the kitchen, this one is going to be fun.

Fresh leaves can be used anywhere you would normally use basil, but because the flavour is so concentrated, a little can completely change a dish. Add it to tomatoes, salads, eggs, vegetables, soups and sauces, tear the leaves over a finished meal, or blend them into dressings and herb oils. The flowers are edible as well and make a spectacular garnish.

And pesto? This basil is going to bring pesto to the next level.

Its powerful aromatic flavour means you can make a pesto with much greater depth than you get from an ordinary sweet basil. I can already imagine combining some Cardinal with our green Genovese basil, garlic, good olive oil, nuts or seeds and cheese, allowing the Genovese to provide that familiar sweetness while Cardinal brings its extraordinary intensity.

Like other basils, Cardinal responds beautifully to regular harvesting. Pinch the growing tips to encourage branching, and if you want a large plant producing lots of leaves, remove the flower heads as they develop. Once basil is allowed to flower and mature its seed, its biological priority begins shifting toward reproduction. In simple garden terms, the plant thinks its job is done. Keep picking those flowers and growing tips and it continues putting energy into new branches and leaves.

Of course, with this particular basil, I would always let a few plants flower. The purple flowers are simply too beautiful not to enjoy, and allowing selected plants to mature gives us seed for the next generation.

This is a new plant for me, and sometimes those are the plants that are the most exciting. You grow something without really knowing what to expect, taste the first leaf, and suddenly realize you have found something you want to keep.

Cardinal Basil has definitely earned a permanent place in the Living Ground gardens.