The epazote herb is commonly used in the cuisines and traditional medicines of central and southern Mexico and Guatemala.
Epazote has 🗝 a strong taste and aroma, so not everyone takes to it right away.
It can be somewhat of an acquired taste, 🗝 but it adds a wonderful rustic layer of flavor to many dishes.
While it is best to use fresh epazote, the 🗝 dried form can be used if no fresh herbs are available.
The peak season for the herb is in winter, but 🗝 it is available year-round.
What Is Epazote?
Epazote (pronounced eh-pah-ZOH-teh) is an aromatic herb; both the fresh leaves and tender stems are 🗝 used in cooking.
The epazote plant is a leafy annual or short-lived perennial plant that can reach 4 feet in height.
Its 🗝 dark green, long, slender, jagged leaves end in a point.
The flowers are green and very small; they produce thousands of 🗝 tiny seeds.
As an herb, it is suitable for gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, and paleo diets.
Origins
Native to Central America, epazote has been 🗝 grown for culinary and medicinal purposes for countless generations.
This herb is used in everyday cooking in the southern Mexican state 🗝 of Oaxaca and the Yucatan Peninsula among the Mayan-speaking peoples.
Epazote has spread as a weed (growing in empty lots and 🗝 by roadsides) throughout a large part of North and South America and even into Europe and Asia.
The word epazote derives 🗝 from Nahuatl, the language spoken by Mexican Aztecs and their ancestors.
A literal translation to English would be something like "stinky 🗝 sweat" (not very appetizing!).
In some parts of Mexico and Guatemala, the plant is called pazote, ipasote, apazote, hierba hedionda ("stinky 🗝 weed"), pazoli, and pizate, In Peru, it is known as paico, a word that comes from Quechua.
In English it is 🗝 sometimes called goosefoot, skunk weed, wormseed, or Mexican tea; the last two of these terms allude to its medicinal use 🗝 to combat intestinal parasites.
What Does It Taste Like?
Epazote has a somewhat pungent flavor profile and is described by many as 🗝 "medicinal.
" It has notes of oregano, anise, citrus, mint, and even tar or creosote.
The most flavor is provided by the 🗝 fresh leaves and stems, and older leaves have a stronger flavor.
Dried epazote is available, but as with cilantro, the flavor 🗝 is much reduced in the dried form.
The Spruce Eats / Julie Bang
Cooking With Epazote
The flavor compounds in epazote do not 🗝 stand up to heating for a long time, so the herb is added to dishes near the end of cooking.
The 🗝 tender leaves and stems are used, with fresh being preferred, but dried can be substituted.
One teaspoon of the dried herb 🗝 is the equivalent of one fresh stem.
Aside from its function as a flavoring, epazote is also purported to reduce the 🗝 gas and bloating experienced by many when eating beans and cruciferous vegetables.
Recipes With Epazote
Epazote is most frequently used to season 🗝 frijoles de la olla (pot beans), especially when they are black beans.
It is also common in stews and rustic dishes 🗝 made with mushrooms or corn.
A sprig of the herb is often used inside a quesadilla made with corn tortillas.
Where to 🗝 Buy Epazote
Leaves and stems of this plant are used almost exclusively in its fresh form in its native land.
Bunches of 🗝 it can be purchased in some Mexican grocery stores or farmers markets.
If you can't get it fresh, grow your own; 🗝 it is an easy-to-grow and hearty annual.
Epazote seeds are available online if they aren't stocked at your local garden center.
If 🗝 you are unable to get it fresh and can't grow it, then at least try to get some of the 🗝 herbs in dried form.
You are most likely to find these at a Mexican grocery store or in the Hispanic foods 🗝 section of a well-stocked supermarket.
The flavor of the dried form of this herb will be much less intense, but it 🗝 will give you an authentic Mexican flavor profile that you can't get anywhere else.
Storage
Store fresh epazote either by placing the 🗝 stems in a glass of water (like cut flowers), or wrap the leaves in a damp paper towel and place 🗝 it into an unsealed plastic bag.
You can freeze leaves of epazote in an ice cube tray filled with water.
One frozen 🗝 cube will give you the usual amount called for in most recipes.
