When I first talked about this beautiful and flavorful plant that I planted in my herb garden last spring, I learned that in Italian it is called basilico della Cina, Chinese basil. You can read more about the variety I have and the use I made of it in this post.
In the photo above, I am focusing on the texture of the leaves, rather than the color, which is what first attracted me to the plant. As I write, I can see my shiso outside the window: it has flowers now and the large leaves are gone.
Dewy shiso flowers
This is my submission to week #18 edition of Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. Savoring the weekly gallery is highly recommended: it's a very special mid-week treat.
The top photo was shot in color and then converted to sepia.
This post contains the gallery of photos submitted to the event.
Che foto meravigliosa, Simona!
Mi piace moltissimo la struttura della foglia.
Bella anche la foto a colori!
baciusss
Beautiful in color as well as black and white, but the veins in the leaf show up much more in your sepia choice. Nice composition!
Just another thought-you will love Snapseed on your iPad. You may know how to download your photos to the device, but I either set up a folder on my computer and transfer it over when I sync the iPad or I use the app –http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/photo-transfer-app/id365152940?mt=8- to transfer the photos either from my computer to the iPad and vice versa, or from the iPhone to the iPad and vice versa. As long as you have a wireless connection, you can transfer from device to device. Hope this information will be helpful.
oh, what a wonderful shot to bring out the texture. i like the photo with the flower, too.
Ciao Brii. Anche a me! Ho paura che la mia piantina non sopravvivera’ all’inverno, percio’ spero di trovarla ancora l’anno prossimo al mercato perche’ davvero mi e’ piaciuto molto averla nel mio orticello.
Thanks Lynne!
And thanks for the additional info on iPad and photos. I must admit that it took me a bit to figure things out, but then I went with using Dropbox, which I already have on my laptop. I had looked at the app you mention as well.
Ciao Paz. We have had a series of chilly nights, so in the morning there were some nice patterns over leaves and flowers.
Great photos! And a new Basil for me to find for the garden next year!
Hi Simona – beautiful!
I use shiso all the time, but never thought to grow it myself. Thanks for the great idea.
(recently shiso gremolata)
LL
I was introduced to shiso by a sushi chef and love the taste. But I didn’t realize how beautiful the plant is—it must be wonderful to have it growing in your yard!
Hi Katie. I recommend shiso: it has a lovely flavor and a lovely look.
Hi Lori Lynn. I bought a seedling and had no problem growing it in my coastal garden. With your gardening skills, I am sure you’d be successful with it and I think the climate should be fine. There are various types and I think the one I got is the prettiest.
Ciao Frank. Indeed, it is widely used as wrapper. It must be consumed raw to taste its lovely flavor. As I mentioned above and also in the post where I showed it for the first time, there are various types of shiso and I think the one I got is the prettiest.