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Posted on 7:16 AM by Wanto and filed under
By James Rowan
Everyone knows this ornamental tree whose masses of white blooms decorate the countryside in early spring, followed in autumn by bright red berries which children string into beads.
Its occurrence in the wild as well as its cultivation is restricted to the inland tropics with their heavy rainfall and rich soil. Over the years growers have bred and developed a great variety of cultivated forms and we no longer know what the original wild trees were like.
The tender young leaves combined with eggs were a popular dish called 'tansy', eaten at Easter to celebrate the end of fasting. This custom has survived to this day in the form of Easter cakes and puddings flavoured with tansy leaves.
It was also believed to banish 'bad humours' caused by a lengthy diet of salt fish. The highly aromatic, rather unpleasant-tasting foliage was used to disguise the strong taste of game and mutton and make it more palatable.
Nowadays tansy is a flavouring that is fast disappearing from cookery, and if used, then generally as an interesting and unusual ingredient. Gourmets recommend using the leaves in omelettes, stuffings, fish dishes and salads, but always sparingly, for larger amounts are toxic. Only young, freshly-picked leaves are used.
Tansy may still occasionally be encountered in gardens, where it is generally grown for decoration. The ornamental form T. vulgare crispum is often cultivated. The yellow, button-like flower-heads arc composed only of tubular flowers; female flowers round the perimeter and bisexual flowers in the centre.
Its occurrence in the wild as well as its cultivation is restricted to the inland tropics with their heavy rainfall and rich soil. Over the years growers have bred and developed a great variety of cultivated forms and we no longer know what the original wild trees were like.
The tender young leaves combined with eggs were a popular dish called 'tansy', eaten at Easter to celebrate the end of fasting. This custom has survived to this day in the form of Easter cakes and puddings flavoured with tansy leaves.
It was also believed to banish 'bad humours' caused by a lengthy diet of salt fish. The highly aromatic, rather unpleasant-tasting foliage was used to disguise the strong taste of game and mutton and make it more palatable.
Nowadays tansy is a flavouring that is fast disappearing from cookery, and if used, then generally as an interesting and unusual ingredient. Gourmets recommend using the leaves in omelettes, stuffings, fish dishes and salads, but always sparingly, for larger amounts are toxic. Only young, freshly-picked leaves are used.
Tansy may still occasionally be encountered in gardens, where it is generally grown for decoration. The ornamental form T. vulgare crispum is often cultivated. The yellow, button-like flower-heads arc composed only of tubular flowers; female flowers round the perimeter and bisexual flowers in the centre.
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