The market · Herbs and aromatics · The Americas
Hoja santas
A big, heart-shaped Mexican leaf that smells of aniseed, root beer and black pepper. Used to wrap fish, cheese and tamales, and blended into Oaxaca's mole verde.
aniseed · root beer · peppery · minty
If you can't find it
Mexican grocers, rarely.
No real swap
No swap for its root-beer-and-anise perfume. A little fennel frond is a hint of it.
Goes with
fishgoat's cheesemasachicken
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- Mexican grocers, fresh or dried; dried loses much of the scent. It grows fast in a warm spot.
- Worth knowing
- Pass the leaf over a flame for a few seconds to bring out its scent, then wrap fish or fresh cheese in it and cook in a dry pan. Like sassafras, it contains safrole — an ingredient for flavour, not to eat by the plateful.
