French to English Lexicon: Herbs and Spices, Part 3

Before we continue with our third and final set of spices, I want to ask you, have you heard of epazote?  If you've spent time in Mexico, you've probably eaten this spice without knowing it was in your dish.

The first time I learned about it was when I was reading on spices at the library recently.  I came across Sandra Bowen's article about epazote on the web site called "a pinch of".  This is the link: http://www.apinchof.com/epazote1089.htm.

If you think epazote is a funny name, Ms. Bowen asks if you'd rather call it by its other names:  skunkweed, pig short, wormseed or goosefoot.  Let's stick to epazote, shall we? 

How do you pronounce it?  She says, "say eh-pa-zo-tay".  It sounds more French than Mexican to me!

Epazote has a lemony flavor and is used by Mexicans when they make fish, beans and corn dishes.  They use it liberally when they make tortillas/quesadillas and it complements the taste of other spices like Mexican cumin, oregano and chilis.  If you go to Ms. Bowen's web site, she has a couple of recipes there that you can try.  One of them can be made a day ahead for maximum flavor.

Let's get those French and English spices for you:

FRENCH	ENGLISH
hysope	hyssop
laurier	bay leaf
bourrache officinale	borage
cerfeuil	chervil
ciboulette	chive
épazote	epazote
mélissa-citronnelle	lemon balm
citronnelle	lemon grass
amandier à amandes amères	bitter almonds
graine de céleri	celery seed

I love Thai soups with lemon grass and coconut milk, by the way.  Think I'll have Mexican beans with epazote this Saturday, and then lemon grass soup on Sunday.  I already have a can of coconut milk (lait de coco in French) on standby!