Florence blog

Laurel, oregano, garlic, and chamomile, are plants that we use daily in our kitchen and are essential ingredients to some of our tasty recipes. A good sauce for spaghetti normally includes some bay leaves, a Neapolitan pizza has some ground herbs and dried oregano and we all know it’s good to drink a chamomile tea as a digestive after a good dinner. However, despite knowing about the culinary uses of plants there are other lesser-known applications that could change our assessment of these plants and their value in our lives.

Our kitchen is full of wonderful, magical and medicinal plants that have been used by different cultures throughout history and, of course, have served to do more than give a good flavour to soups or improve digestion.

Here is some more information about the medicinal and magical properties of some plants used in our homes:

Garlic: Medicinal Properties: Digestive, antiseptic and blood purifier. A small piece of a garlic clove with a glass of water should be taken in the morning.

Magical properties: Protection Spells. Hang a braid of garlic in the doorway of the house or kitchen. To deal with dangerous situations carry a clove of garlic in a linen bag.

Chamomile: Medicinal Properties: Digestive, anti-inflammatory and helps heal skin.  Make an infusion of 4g chamomile in 100 ml of water, to drink or wash the affected skin.

Magical properties: Prepare the mind and body to perform magic spells by drinking an infusion of just the flowers to purify your spiritual energy.

Laurel: Medicinal Properties: Helps digestion. It is used in tonics.

Magical properties: Favours fame and success and protects you from bad energy. Perform a spell to attract good energy with a laurel branch in your right hand and a laurel wreath on your head.

Oregano: Medicinal Properties: Drink an infusion of oregano leaves for headaches, cramps and intestinal pain.

Magical properties: This herb accompanies the dead on their journey to the afterlife in many cultures, and its magic helps us to cope with profound changes in life. It must be burnt in a silver cup when a relationship ends or someone dies.

Wormwood: Medicinal Properties: Opens the appetite, eases stomach pain, muscle relaxant. The leaves are used in infusion.

Magical Properties: The herb of the traveller:  Put some leaves in a bag and take it with you for a safe and happy holiday.

Finally to have a perfect holiday, apart from carrying a bag of wormwood, you should drink a cup of Melissa, a soothing herb very fashionable today and has the magical power to soften the wounds of love. With these recipes to improve your life, you only need to rent beautiful apartments in Florence and enjoy the magic of Italy, a land full of ancestral traditions.