By Ellery Weil (TheTakeOut)- You’ve been here before: after hours in the kitchen, cooking up a storm…and your kitchen sure smells like it. Whether you’ve been batch-cooking chili and want to dispel the smell of onions before going to sleep, or you’ve made a three-course meal for a dinner party and want your guests to arrive to a pleasant aroma, how your kitchen smells can feel as important as keeping your surfaces clean, and can even impact how food tastes. Luckily, there’s a simple hack for neutralising kitchen odors and creating a versatile treat in the process: boiling rosemary to make rosemary water.
Making rosemary water is simple: Just fill a pot with fresh water, bring it to a boil, and then remove it from the heat and add a few stalks of rinsed, fresh rosemary. Then let it steep for up to two hours and enjoy the soothing, natural scent of rosemary filling your kitchen while also banishing other less pleasing aromas. Once the rosemary water has steeped, you can use it as a refreshing, calming drink, put it in a spray bottle to use as an air freshener, or even use it to refresh and hydrate your hair and skin as a natural beauty product.
Rosemary is a beloved staple herb and kitchen hero with uses that go well beyond making rosemary water. Dried rosemary can enliven sauces or take homemade Nonna’s focaccia to the next level. Fresh sprigs of rosemary can be added to olive oil to make your own flavourful, infused olive oil that’s perfect for dipping crusty bread as part of an Italian-inspired meal. Rosemary is also the star of a delectable skewer-swap kabob hack, where the herb’s woody stems are used in place of skewers, infusing your meat and vegetables with added flavor.
There are even health benefits to cooking with and eating rosemary, some of which might surprise you. Not only is rosemary a natural anti-inflammatory with mild pain relief properties, but it has also been linked to improved mood, memory, and cognitive function. There’s even some evidence that rosemary, which contains natural antioxidants, can help reduce toxins found in red meat, meaning that adding some of the fresh herb to your steak isn’t just tasty, it’s good for you. Whichever way you choose to use rosemary water, or even make your own rosemary water face wash, this versatile herb can bring scent, flavor, and physical and mental benefits to your kitchen routine!
