Roasted Tomatoes with Basil Recipe

Ingredients
75 grams of shortening
2 big onions cut in rings
10 big tomatoes, washed and peeled and finely cut
2 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons of sugar
75 grams of breadcrumbs

Preparation
Preheat the oven at a high temperature (200 degrees C).

Melt one third of the shortening. Add in the onion rings and fry them until they are soft. Take them off the heat. Place a layer of onion rings in the bottom of a baking pan, previously greased. Cover with a layer of tomato slices and sprinkle basil over it as well as the salt, pepper and sugar. Repeat the same process.

Cut the leftover shortening into cubes and place them on top of the bread.

Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

Thyme has the honor of having a scientific name because it comes from the Latin word Satureja, which means, plant of the satyrs.

It is an annual plant of the family of the labiates and part of a tribe along with mint, marjoram and the thyme. It grows in the wild near the Mediterranean Sea, out of which it has extended to other parts favored by its capacity of prospering in all types of lands and resisting uneasy weather whether it is very hot or very cold.

The stem stands straight, is prismatic, has a reddish color and is full of branches, it reaches near thirty centimeters in height; the leaves are a dark green color and the small flowers have a white corolla. The foliar part of the flower is endowed with abundant superficial glands, which produce a volatile oil that lets off a scent.

Thyme was known in history as a Roman aphrodisiac, now it has several medicinal uses such as an antispasmoic stomach relief, amongst others, and it is also used in Spain to marinate olives and to condiment stews although it is only used in small quantities because it is very aromatic.

It has a nice aroma and the taste is somewhat spicy.

Long ago it was used as an aromatic plant and people thought it stimulated sexual activity. Olives for example, are placed in water for several days and the water is changed regularly so that they lose their bitterness. Once taken out and drained, they are placed in a recipient with clean water, salt and thyme.

Ginseng is the root of an Asian plant. It has been known to have a lot of healing qualities in it, some are contradictory though such as that it is used as a sedative and stimulant.

It has become somewhat popular in recent years, but it has a millenary tradition in the East: the Chinese for example, considered it a divine herb.

It is supposedly an efficient sexual increaser, and there are people that drink it in a form of tea a little while before having sex. Either way, it is said that its effects are not immediate.

Ginger is another root that is extracted young. One of its effects is the stimulation of blood circulation. It is used a lot in the Chinese kitchen.

Ginger was consumed in powder and is an essential ingredient in the elaboration of Byzantine types of bread but its most particular use was in Venice and Burgundy in which it was used to: heal people that had cold stomachs.

This story is actually kind of funny because supposedly after eating the Dukes of Burgundy felt their stomachs were cold and that their legs shook a little, so in order to remedy the problem, they would drink more than a liter of boiling wine with ginger which would make them feel better. And that in many cases would probably also get them turned on.