One of the perks of living in Mexico City is that fresh chamomile is available almost everywhere. Of course, when I first moved here, I had no idea what it was — I thought vendors were selling a miniature type of daisy. Figured it was some fresh herb that cleaned out your kidneys, or something.
Only recently did I realize that those daisies were actually wild chamomile. I’ve been trying to kick my coffee habit, so I bought a bunch for the first time on Sunday at the Mercado el 100, a new weekly outdoor market that specializes in organic products.
The market launched a few Sundays ago in Roma, and then it moved to Parque México in Condesa. It’ll move again this weekend to Casa de Francia in Col. Juárez.
The market is fairly small, but it’s got a decent variety of products for sale — two vendors sell fresh produce (scored some gorgeous basil at one stand a few weeks ago), while the rest offer ready-made goods such as tortillas, jams, dried xoconostle, agave syrup, coffee.
The neat thing is that there isn’t any other outdoor market like this in the city. The tianguis sells produce and other products, but most of it comes from the Central de Abastos, which gets in turn gets it from large industrialized farms in Mexico. Nick Gilman has a detailed article about the Mercado el 100 on his blog, if you want to know more.
As for the chamomile tea: the fresh version has a much grassier, herbal flavor than the dried versions I’ve bought in the store. Just be careful not to add too much, as chamomile is a mild laxative.
Fresh Chamomile Tea
Makes about 3 cups
Note: I’ve heard some folks say they throw in the entire plant into the pot, and not just the flowers. I tried it this way and the resulting tea turned out green! And it tasted much more strongly of grass. So I prefer the flowers only. The taste obviously depends on your palate, but a good rule of thumb is one tablespoon of flowers per cup of tea.
2 tablespoons fresh chamomile flowers, rinsed
About 3 cups of water
Boil water and add chamomile flowers. Let boil for one to two minutes, turn off the flame, and then steep for five more minutes or “hasta que tenga su colorcito,” as the vendor told me. (Translation: “Until it has it’s little color,” which means until it’s turned a deep yellow.) Strain the flowers and serve.
My grandmother grew fresh manzanilla and I still love it today. Just the smell of it boiling brings back so many wonderful memories. We especially drank this tea for tummy aches. My children love it with honey. Did you ever see my post about remedios? Its pretty funny – you should check it out!
http://muybuenocookbook.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/remedios-a-guest-post/
Nice photo! I just heard about this market the other day and I’m excited to go check it out! My fiancee makes tea like this and he’s always trying to get me to switch from coffee to tea – hasn’t happened yet. 😉
Laura: Switching from coffee to tea has been a slooow process. The trick for me has been having 5-6 kinds of tea on hand. (Squeezed into my tiny Mexican kitchen.) That way I never get bored. Right now I’m sipping chai, and yesterday it was green tea. Tomorrow it might be manzanilla!
Manzanilla! Same as Yvette’s grandma, mine would give it to me whenever I stayed home from school with a stomach ache. And when I was a homesick college student in Xalapa it was the only thing that could soothe me to sleep.
I used to give it to you when you were young and had a stomach ache. It was very weak tea but seemed to do the job. We did not have any stores in the neighborhood that had fresh manzanilla so I just used the dried. Any memories of drinking it as a youngster?
Mom, you finally commented! And no, I’m sorry, don’t remember drinking manzanila as a kid. I do remember drinking a lot of it in Spain.
Oh gosh, i hated that stuff. I like the smell but cannot stand coffee or tea. My mom usesd to make me drink it when i was sick and had stomachaches. I would sit by my bed and slowly spit it back out onto the carpet. Disgusting I know but hey, I was about 7 when I did that so I reckon I’m excused.
Leslie,
my grandmother used to grow fresh manzanilla in the beds just outside her front door. I remember she let me pick it and she would boil it in a pot for me. She used milk and sugar …and I love the smell even today, fresh or dried it take me right back to her kitchen.
Thanks for sharing, Tricia! It’s amazing how much manzanilla seems to be connected to folks’ grandmothers.
Aww manzanilla! We have a plant in our front yard and when I moved away to Seattle I took tons of dried stuff with me. Helped the homesickness!
Another plant we have is estafiate (I’m not sure on the spelling) but my mom attempts to give it to me everytime I have a stomach ache. Shell boil up 3-5 leaves. It smells sweet and I’ve never been able to drink it. When i was young she even tried putting sugar in it. I say it tastes like the tea form of fruity pebbles! Ha
If your into teas right now I suggest you try it.
Another remedy I remember is when shed boil cascara de naranja into a tea, not too sure what that was for.
Thanks Nashely. I don’t know estafiate but I’ll have to ask next time I’m at the tianguis.
It grows wild in Brooklyn and I can’t resist picking some
and brewing a cup of tea every summer even though the soil just may be a bit “unclean”.
Also fond memories with my daughter picking some from
under the “el” train tracks in Chicago in the 90’s.
Hi Steve: I had no idea it grew so well in urban areas. Especially under the train tracks — who knew? Thanks for sharing your memory!
I am also producing the chamomile oil but not getting market to sell. If any party is interested to buy in reasonable price, they can contact through my email ID.