Mexican tarragon 20 gram: dried herb from Tagetes lucida
Tagetes lucida is a perennial herb in the daisy family that grows wild in Mexico and Central America. The plant reaches roughly forty to seventy five centimetres, carries narrow glossy green leaves of about seven centimetres and flowers in late summer with clusters of small golden yellow heads. You find it on open plains, along field edges and roadsides, and in the temperate pine and oak woodland of Mexico and Guatemala. The names vary by region: Mexican tarragon and winter tarragon in English, pericon, yerbaniz or Santa Maria in Spanish, and yauhtli in the Nahuatl of the Aztecs.
What the bag holds is the whole above ground part of the plant, cut and dried: grey green leaves, reddish brown pieces of stem and the odd dried yellow flower head. Rub a little between your fingers and the smell makes the case on its own: anise, clearly stronger than in the French tarragon this herb often replaces in recipes. In Mexican cooking the leaf goes into sauces and with poultry, and alongside that an infusion has long been made from it. Under the name yauhtli the plant appears in Aztec sources in connection with the rain god Tlaloc, and in parts of Mexico pericon still belongs to rituals around the start of the rainy season. That comes from the ethnobotanical record rather than any established pharmacological profile.
Making an infusion
Reckon on about a teaspoon of dried herb per cup. Pour hot water over it, cover the cup and let it stand for five to ten minutes. Leaf gives off faster than bark, so leaving it longer mainly makes it more bitter. Strain it afterwards. The anise note comes through strongly and sits well with a spoon of honey or a slice of lemon. If you want to cook with it, use it in place of dried tarragon in roughly equal measure and add it towards the end of cooking.
Storage and warnings
Keep the bag firmly closed in a cool, dry and dark place, ideally in an airtight jar, and keep the herb out of reach of children. Not suitable for anyone under 18, and not to be combined with alcohol. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or taking medication, talk to your doctor first. This herb is sold as a botanical product and not as a medicine, and its use remains your own responsibility.
At Avalon Magic Plants you will find the same plant as a 10X extract in a 1 gram pot, and in the same category valerian, Wild Lettuce, Klip Dagga, Maconha Brava, Mulungu and damiana. Your order leaves our warehouse in discreet packaging.
