Epizote takes the blow out of beans

[hoodat]

Unless you are of Mexican heritage you probably never heard of epizote. It's a weedy looking plant. In fact it greatly resembles ragweed. If you smell a crushed leaf or taste it you would never think of cooking with it. It smells kind of like kerosene and tastes sort of like turpentine, but don't worry. That is a volatile oil and disapears at the first sign of cooking. Mexicans usually add it to any dry beans they cook as it has an enzyme that helps you digest the beans and takes all the "blow" out of them. Kind of Natures version of Beano. It adds little or no flavor of its own but brings the best flavor out in the beans. I just toss in a big sprig of it toward the end of cooking, then fish it back out before I serve.
It does have one unfortunate feature. It seeds freely so once you plant the first ones you find it popping up in all sorts of places.
It's very easy going. Sun or open shade. Good soil or poor soil. It will withstand drought but does better with regular watering. It's also a good magnesium indicator. If the leaves get purple splotches or edges your soil needs more of that mineral.
If you live in the Southwest you have probably "inherited" some already from your Mexican neighbors and didn't know what it was. I wouldn't be without it. This is what it looks like:

 

[beavis]

Yep, Epazote is a wonderful herb!

Love it.

 

[Ladyhawke1]

I just planted some Epazote on May 1. I got the seeds from a friend here on the board. Thank you for the information on the magnesium.

Let the cooking begin!

 

[ninnymary]

Hoodat...I'm of mexican decent but I've never heard of epazote. I still keep the tradition of cooking a pot of pinto beans every week but my grandmother or mother never used this herb. Perhaps it doesn't grow as well in California? Although, I find that hard to imagine. Never mind...I forgot you live in San Diego.

I sure would like to try it. Maybe a "friend" will send me some seeds!

Mary

 

[hoodat]

I wish I could send you some seeds but I never bother saving them. It pops up by itself in any disturbed soil and I just pull out the ones that come up where I don't want them. I'm sure someone here has some seed for you. If you are a bean conniseur you will find the improvement in the taste noticeable. I've heard that in some parts of Mexico it isn't commonly used but here it's even sold in the produce sections of Mexican markets.
If you get much of that ocean fog (San Francisco liquid sunshine) where you live it will probably appreciate the sunniest spot you can find.

 

[Ladyhawke1]

The friend I got mine from lives in Washington State and I guess her grows OK.

 

[RedClayGardener]

I have been looking for epizote seeds all over without any luck. Has anyone found a good seed company that has it?

 

[897tgigvib]

Ya know, I think I'll start squishing some of my pigweed to make sure it is not this Epazote...

 

[Nyboy]

Thank you marshall for bringing this thread back, very interesting. I wonder if whole foods has it. The owner of a cafe in town is a good friend, he makes a escarole and bean soup that is amazing.I wish I could eat it everyday, problem is it makes me very gasy (sp). I bet he would try it in the soup.

 

[hoodat]

I'm just starting to see the first volunteers of the year in my garden. They have deep tap roots so I usually wait till they have a strong stem to pull the ones I don't want. I water the ground thoroughly first. As long as you get most of the tap root they won't come back. I usually just let a few grow among the weeds at the edge of my garden so they won't take up garden space. They can get quite large.
BTW don't bother drying them. They lose the volatile oils that make them work. THey have to be used fresh.