INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

"Mexican mint marigold has a lot to offer.  It thrives in the hot, humid
South, where many herbs languish; its small, bright flowers blossom in fall
when other herbs have played out for the season; its licorice-anise flavor
is a successful stand-in for French tarragon; and it looks good in the
garden.
"This paragon, native to the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala, is a neat,
upright bush some 3 feet tall with narrow, sharply toothed dark green
leaves.  Its scent recalls that of tarragon more than it does the pungent
aroma of its familiar bedding-plant cousins, so-called French and African
marigolds.  In fall, if the growing season is long enough, the tips of the
stems bear clusters of 3/8-inch golden yellow flowers.
"Cloud plant, as this herb is known in Mexico, was first documented there
in the sixteenth century by Spanish explorers. According to legend, the
ancient Aztec chieftains used a powder made from the aromatic leaves of
mint marigold to calm the hapless victims of sacrificial rituals. The
leaves have also been used medicinally in folk remedies for malaria, colic,
and colds; a poultice of the leaves is a traditional treatment for
rattlesnake bite."
"Beside cloud plant, Mexican mint marigold has many other aliases, most
alluding to its fragrance: sweet mace, Mexican or winter tarragon, sweet or
mint-scented marigold, root beer plant, Mexican marigold mint, and yerba
anis.  Its Latin generic name, Tagetes, probably comes from Tages, an
Etruscan deity said to be the grandson of Jupiter. A boy with the wisdom of
an old man who sprang from the ground (or perhaps was plowed up), he taught
the Etruscans the art of soothsaying. The specific name, lucida, means
'bright' or 'shining', probably referring to the bright yellow-gold
flowers.
"T. lucida is closely related to both ordinary garden marigolds and the
citrus-scented signet marigolds (T. tenuifolia). The latter are prized by
herb gardeners as potpourri material as well as for their ornamental value.
They are all native to the New World, unlike pot marigold (Calendula
officinalis), the herb referred to as 'marigold' by Gerard, Culpeper, and
other great herbalists.
"Chop the fresh leaves and use them to season chicken and tossed green
salads, or brew them into a sweet, anise-flavored tea. The dried leaves
retain their fragrance well if kept in a sealed glass container and
protected from extreme heat and bright light..."
"In the humid South, where French tarragon is difficult to grow, mint
marigold is a fine culinary substitute. The flavor is almost
indistinguishable from that of tarragon, but because mint marigold breaks
down more quickly when heated, it's best if added at the end of cooking. In
salads, vinegars, oils, or quick-cooking recipes, substitute it for
tarragon in equal proportions.
"Mint marigold's dried leaves add fragrance to potpourris and sachets.
Harvest the long stems just before frost when they are tipped with
yellow-gold flowers. While they're still green and pliable, weave them
together in groups of six or nine as you would braid hair, then tie the two
ends of each group together to form a circle. Dried leaves can be removed
as needed for cooking.  If the wreaths are made small and interwoven with
other herbs, they can be tossed whole into a soup or stew as a bouquet
garni.
"The flowers add long-lasting color to dried arrangements and bouquets.
They are attractive combined with sweet Annie, broom, and goldenrod in
harvest centerpieces, or bundle the stems with natural-colored raffia for
fragrant hang-ups that add a warm ambiance to any room. For a change of
pace and scale, clip the stems short and make miniature bouquets in tiny
vases.  As with other marigolds, Mexican mint marigold looks good and lasts
well in fresh flower arrangements as well."
Excerpted from Diane Morey Sitton's "An Herb to Know" column in "The Herb
Companion."  April/May 1993, Vol. 5, No. 4. Pp. 20-21. Posted by Cathy
Harned.
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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