Sage advice

BEDFORD HILLS, N.Y. — My friend Susan Sammon and I often chat about what's growing in the garden. Recently, I commented on how her sage plants were flourishing in the hot weather. Unlike most ornamental plants, she explained, "sage and herbs in general don't want a lot of attention. This Mediterranean native can thrive in any sunny location, tolerates poor soil and needs little water.

"I started growing herbs because browsing deer had taken a toll on my flower gardens and perennial beds. I heard that many varieties were deer-resistant. It's true, because my herb garden was an instant success."

Susan's garden features several kinds of perennial sage including purple, tricolor, Berggarten and broadleaf sage. Besides enduring hot weather and staving off deer, these bushes withstand cold weather, so they can remain outdoors all year.

All sage isn't alike. Only a handful of the 80 subspecies of this bushy plant are used in cooking. Within this small group are grape, honeydew and pineapple sage, each redolent of the fruit whose name it bears. Leaving Susan's garden, I picked eight gray-green, velvety leaves from her common sage bush and headed into the kitchen where I chopped them and mixed them with softened butter, minced shallots and a pinch of salt. After chilling, I added dollops of this compound butter to the steaks we grilled for dinner.

As the butter melts, the herbaceous immediacy of the flavor takes me back to the first time I tasted a fresh sage leaf. It was delicately batter-dipped and fried and I was standing in Giuliano Bugialli's rustic kitchen in Florence, Italy. The stunning difference in taste between those graceful fresh leaves and the dried or powdered stuff in tins was immediately obvious.

Over the years, I simplified Giuliano's recipe to a basic flour-water coating and have served the crispy snack, drizzled with lemon juice and coarse salt, to legions of friends. Guests always rave.

With fresh herbs readily available in supermarkets, finding fresh sage is easier than ever for non-gardeners. Dried sage retains its aroma and pungency. But unless it's slowly simmered, as in a stew or sauce, the dish is apt to retain a musty taste. With the fresh herb, the opposite is true: some of the most exciting tastes evolve when the leaves are used uncooked or just warmed through, as with sage butter.

Sage pesto prepared like the traditional basil sauce and drizzled over roast shoulder of veal is one example where it's impossible to imagine using dried leaves. As the smooth puree of sage and walnuts blends with the pan juices, the flavors meld into an inspired complement to the fork-tender meat.