Foodstuff: Basil Paste in a Tube – Gourmet Garden™ Brand | Sybaritica

Back in October of last year, I featured a commercially produced Lemongrass Paste in a Tube by the same manufacturer as the Basil Paste you see pictured above. I am afraid I wasn’t very kind in my review of the Lemongrass as I found it a little insipid and a pretty poor substitute for the fresh article. This product, on the other hand, is far better and one I have found very useful indeed…

The paste, as you can see, has a very vibrant emerald green color and you can make out actual flecks of the herb. The tube touts itself as offering ‘Fresh, natural taste’ and, indeed, that is what you get. It may surprise you to learn that the very tube pictured above was actually opened a little over a year ago. I bought three or four of them at the same time and this one, after opening, got tucked away in the back of my fridge and forgotten. When I discovered it a few days ago, I was rather expecting to have to throw it away but, to my pleased amazement, it tasted just as fresh and sprightly as when it was first opened.

One of the aspects of making a paste from fresh basil leaves is that it can sometimes have a slightly harsh, almost bitter, aftertaste. In this product, though, that particular quality is noticeably absent. There is, however, a bit of a trade off in that, like the Lemongrass product, the added dextrose gives it an artificially sweet note that is a little out of place. Still, while this is definitely apparent when you taste the paste right out of the tube, I have not found it to be noticeable when used in more complex preparations.

Certainly, I would prefer to use fresh Basil wherever possible but it is not always easy to find and I often end up buying a bunch to use for one recipe or another, only to end up having what I don’t immediately use wilt and discolor before I can use employ it elsewhere. Accordingly, if I need to put together a quick pesto to use as, say, a rub for roast chicken pieces, it is extremely convenient to have a tube of this stuff on hand.

This product definitely gets a ‘thumbs-up’ from me…

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