CHAMOMILE: HOW TO MAKE CHAMOMILE TISANE

CHAMOMILE

Chamomile was revered by the ancient Egyptians because they believed it could cure fevers. They also used the crushed flowers on the skin as cosmetics. It has been used by people in most cultures for its healing properties, notably as an aid to digestion, to relieve stomach cramps, as a mild sedative to cure insomnia and to ward off nightmares. There are many different types of chamomile, including Chamaemelum nobile, the one most commonly found in English gardens, Scotch Chamomile and German chamomile as well as the Stinking Mayweed or Stinking Chamomile, which Gerard wrote of as having a ‘naughty smell’.

The name chamomile comes from the Greek, kamai (on the ground) and melo (apple). Pliny wrote that it smells like apple blossom, so that may be how it got its name.

 In Mediaeval times chamomile leaves and flowers were strewn on floors in much the same way as juniper leaves and thyme were, to mask odours.

  It has been grown in gardens for centuries, and there is a verse which explains its resilience:-

‘Like a chamomile bed-

The more it is trodden

The more it will spread.’

  Culpeper wrote that it was ‘profitable’ for almost everything, from sprains to fevers, and recommended bathing with a decoction of chamomile in a hot bath.

  Peter Rabbit’s mother (in the Beatrix Potter book) gave Peter chamomile tea for a bad stomach, and it has been effective in helping digestion, and for reducing fevers. It is good for the skin and can help get rid of eczema; it can also be used in an eye bath for conjunctivitis. It is used in many toiletries, and recent research has shown that it does indeed have the properties ascribed to it by the ancient peoples who used it. The dried flowers can also be used as a natural yellow dye.

  If you steep 10 parts of chamomile flowers with 5 of crushed poppy heads in a muslin bag, in boiling water for 20 mins, then apply the bag to the affected area, it will help reduce swelling. As an antiseptic, chamomile tisane is said to be 120 times stronger than sea water, which contains iodine

  In the garden it is useful too. If you have a sickly-looking plant, and you plant chamomile beside it, 9 times out of 10 the plant will recover. Chamomile is known as “the plants physician”.

  It is sacred to Druids, for its healing qualities, and is believed to bring luck, purification, love, rest, justice and fortune.

Below is a recipe which can be used externally and drunk as a tisane.

CHAMOMILE TISANE

Ingredients

30 gr chamomile flowers

1 pint water

Method

In a covered pan, boil water and flowers for 10 mins. Leave to steep for 20 minutes without removing the lid. Strain and take a small cup at a time.

  This can be used on sunburn other minor burns, rashes and eczema too, just smooth onto the affected area with cotton wool.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

BOHAR or BANYAN TREE, MEDICINE and HISTORY

THE BOHAR OR BANYAN TREE

The Bohar tree is native to India and Pakistan, although it now grows throughout tropical Asia. It is the Ficus benghalensis, a member of the fig family of trees. It is sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus. Krishna is said to have achieved enlightenment under one, and Shiva, in his role of Universal teacher, Dakshinamurti, sat under a bohar tree to enlighten the sages who had come to hear his teachings. It is India’s national symbol, symbolizing India’s unity through diversity (as the tree has several trunks and many aerial roots).

The Banyan tree is also a symbol of spiritual knowledge. In the Pralaya it is written that only Krishna survived the great Cosmic Flood, and he is depicted sucking his toe, while floating over the flood waters on a banyan leaf in many Indian Tajore paintings. In Hindu mythology it is known as the ‘wish fulfilling tree’. Its ever expanding branches represent eternal life

It got its English name from the word, banian, for Hindu merchants or traders, as English people on the subcontinent noted that traders would sit under a shady banyan tree to do business, or to relax in its shade. Indeed, whole villages could stay under one tree that was reputedly so big that 20,000 people could be accommodated under its branches. It reportedly had a perimeter of 600 metres. The aerial roots grow into accessory trunks, and help support the massive trees.
The tree is epithetic, so when birds drop the seeds from the fruits of the banyan or bohar on the branches of other trees, they germinate and grow roots which, when they become thicker and stronger, eventually strangle the host tree.

Its leaves are large and leathery, smooth on the upper side of the leaf, but with hairy undersides, and these are used as fodder, as well as being boiled and used as poultices, applied to abscesses and cracked soles on the feet. The milky sap which oozes from the stems, twigs and branches when it is cut is used to relieve inflamed areas of skin, sores and ulcers. It is also used to get rid of bruises and to treat rheumatism and lumbago.

 The bark has astringent properties and is used to help in cases of diabetes, and to treat dysentery. Western medical researchers have been slow to research the possibilities of the banyan tree, but studies underway suggest that it may indeed be helpful in the treatment of diabetes. In Ayurvedic medicine its bark and seeds are used in infusions as these are believed to have cooling properties and these are used as a tonic and to cool the body.The ripe fruits are not generally eaten by people unless there is a time of famine, but they are enjoyed by monkeys and birds. People use its twigs for toothbrushes.

  The banyan tree is useful in many ways. It is home to the lac insects, parasites that live on the tree, as they do on the tamarind tree. From the resinous secretions of these creatures we get shellac which is used in French polish, and to make lac dye which is good for dying wool and silk. Shellac is also used in cosmetics and hair lacquer.

 Fibres from the bark and roots are woven into rope, and the aerial roots make good tent poles as they are strong and flexible-they are stronger than the tree trunk wood. A modern craft involves making greetings cards with the leaves from the banyan incorporated into the designs. The milky sap from the tree is good for polishing metal ware, and the wood is suitable for making paper pulp.

Ghosts and demons are said to live in the banyan tree so people don’t sleep under it at night. However married women go to the tree to ask for a long life for their husbands. Young people are encouraged to plant banyan trees and to put a silver coin under the roots. They should also plant them near a Bo tree or pipal tree (Ficus religiosa) which is believed to be the banyan tree’s female counterpart. When the banyan tree is planted in this way the young person should be lucky in life.

There are no recipes for this tree as people don’t eat its fruit. Sorry! However you could go to one of our stand alone recipes, a chicken one, or a salad or moussaka and pastitsio. They all have Taste and are Treats.

ARROWROOT: RECIPE ARROWROOT PUDDING and FRUIT

ARROWROOT
Arrowroot’s Latin name is Maranta arundinacea as it was named after a 16th century medical practitioner, Bartommeo Maranta. There are different species of arrowroot, or Maranta, and Maranta malaccensis from Borneo has poison in its root, used to put on arrows. But the arrowroot we buy packaged from a chemist or drugstore is not harmful, in fact the Indians who know this plant in the rainforests of South America and in the West Indies, use it to draw out the poison from arrow wounds and snake and spider bites.

It originated in the West Indies, and the name arrowroot comes from the name given the plant by the Arawak Indians, aru root. As mentioned above, it also grows in the rainforests of South America.
It was introduced into Britain around 1732, and has been used ever since to calm stomach upsets and it is given to people who are recovering from illnesses. Apparently it is also good for infants who are in the process of being weaned, as it is farinaceous, and bland.
The powder, when put on feet, helps reduce excess moisture and so can help to prevent fungal ailments such as athlete’s foot. However it has no fungicidal properties, it only soaks up sweat.

The powder comes from the roots of the plant and is starch based, and easily digested. It is used as a thickener for puddings and sauces. You mix a tablespoon of powder to a pint of water, but first mix arrowroot powder with a little water or milk and then boil a pint of milk or water, and pour the boiling liquid over the arrowroot, slowly, stirring carefully to avoid lumps. You drink this mixture after vomiting or a bad bout of diarrhea to replace some of the nutrients the body has lost.


ARROWROOT PUDDING and FRUIT
Ingredients
2 tbsps arrowroot powder
1 litre milk
1 tbsp sugar
50 gr butter
¼ tsp nutmeg
500gr fruit of your choice

Method
Mix the arrowroot with a little of the milk so that it makes a smooth paste.
Boil the rest of the milk with the sugar and add it to the paste slowly, stirring carefully all the while.
Add butter and stir in well.
Pour the mixture into an oven proof dish that has been well greased, and sprinkle the grated nutmeg over the top.
Cook in a medium oven for an hour to an hour and a half.
Serve hot or cold.
Chop up the fruit and marinade in cointreau or grande marnier for an hour or so, then serve with the pudding.
This has Taste and is a Treat.

PAPAYA or PAPITA with PAPAYA AND COTTAGE CHEESE RECIPE

PAPAYA or PAWPAW

The papaya or pawpaw (papita in Urdu), is native to South America. It is thought that it has been cultivated from a wild variety that was virtually inedible and bitter, so we have this tasty, juicy, exotic fruit thanks to the painstaking efforts of South American Indians. The papaya was first documented by the Spanish chronicler Oviedo in 1526, when it was discovered along the Caribbean coastline of Panama and Colombia.

It can be grown from seeds and the tree grown from a seed will be fruit bearing 18 months after planting. The seeds are edible, and have a peppery taste, and can be used as a pepper substitute. They can be used in salads. For centuries, South Americans have used the juice of the papaya to tenderize meat. In Asia the leaves are steamed and eaten as a green vegetable, and the green fruit is used in Thai salads. Teas made from the leaves are said to be effective against malaria.

However if pregnant, don’t eat green papaya. In parts of Asia they are used to bring on abortions, and as a contraceptive (the seeds are spermicidal).They are thought to be effective in preventing heart disease and colon cancer, and their anti-inflammatory properties mean that they are good for asthma sufferers as well as those suffering from rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. They have nutrients which boost the immune system and can help when you suffer from recurrent earache, colds or flu. No wonder they were revered by the ancient South American Indians.

Fresh papaya can be used in fruit salads, with muesli, yoghurt or in green salads. You can slice one in half, remove the seeds and fill with crab, shrimp, or tuna or even chicken salad. Place a slice on top of a grilled fish to garnish it, and eat as an unusual accompaniment to it.

PAPAYA WITH COTTAGE CHEESE
Ingredients
1 papaya sliced in half and seeds removed

250 gr cottage cheese

1 lime
30 gr toasted almonds
freshly ground black pepper and salt if you wish
2 mint leaves to garnish


Method
Sprinkle the papaya halves with lime juice, then pile in the cottage cheese. Top with pepper, almonds and garnish with mint leaves.
Serves 2.
This has Taste and is a Treat.