Myrtle

Myrte

What it is

In Sardinia the suckling pig comes out of the fire pit onto a bed of myrtle branches and is covered with more, so the leaf perfumes the meat while it rests rather than while it cooks. The black berries ripen only from late autumn and are a separate seasoning altogether, sweeter, closer to juniper steeped in wine.

In the kitchen

Use the leaves whole and pull them out; chopped, the resin turns eucalyptus-bitter. Three or four leaves per kilo of meat is the ceiling, not the starting point.

Goes with

Pork Wild boar Juniper berry Bay leaf Honey Olive oil

Also used with

Arbutus berry Cervione hazelnut Lonzu

In season alongside

Crowberry Blackcurrant buds Jujube Ptarmigan Matsutake Mont d’Or

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