Epazote

From: Gordon Wells (wells@iri.upc.es)
Date: Fri May 16 1997 - 08:17:11 PDT


Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 17:17:11 +0200
From: Gordon Wells <wells@iri.upc.es>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg1943$foo@default>
Subject: Epazote

Dear Jan,

> I grow [Epazote (Chenopodium ambrosioides)] as well (nice aroma for a
> _Chenopodium_!). What do Mexican food gourmets use it for?

I've mostly seen it used as an aromatic herb in various Mexican dishes.
The fresh leaves are added to soups, stews, and sauces to add a unique
flavor.

What do you grow it for ?

> Are there significant problems with worms in Mexican
> food? I know of Mescal but this "worm" is in fact a larva and it
> looks quite inactive...

Not that I know of, but who knows - maybe long ago they began using
it for this purpose. The answer may actually lie in European history.
In fact, this herb is apparently a weed native to Europe and was
later taken to Mexico. (I'm sure you know more about its history
than me). I recently became curious to confirm this and started
looking for it here. A few days ago I just happened to stumble
across a single group of plants growing on a steet corner in
downtown Barcelona. It is a nitrophilic plant, and the main
reason it was flourishing in this particular spot was that
it was right at the base of an electrical box on the sidewalk
where dogs always stop to urinate! Right near the box, the plants
were over 50cm high, whereas 30cm away they only managed to grow
to 2-3 cm and looked rather starved. None grew farther away than
that. I've been looking all over town and haven't found any more
of this plant growing anywhere. Needless to say, I was not tempted
to collect any leaves from this particular plant for my soup.

If anyone's getting annoyed by this very-off-topic, please let me know
and we can continue it in private.

Best regards,

Gordon Wells
Instituto de Robotica e Informatica Industrial
Edificio Nexus, planta 2
Gran Capitan 2-4
Barcelona E-08034
SPAIN



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