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Mexican tarragon (flowering plant) |
Closely similar to tarragon, Mexican marigold is stronger and more robust; therefore, it goes better with spicy food as is loved in the Southwest of the United States. Mexican marigold is good for bouquet garni (see parsley), for flavoured butter and herbed vinegar (see dill). Its pleasant scent harmonizes very well with poultry.
Quite amazingly, I have not come over Mexican recipes using this herb.
There is, however, a related species Tagetes micrantha
known as licorice marigold
with similar flavour which is sometimes
mentioned in Mexican cookbooks. Moreover, Mexican marigold makes quite
an acceptable substitute for the Mexican
pepper-leaf in recipes where the pepperleaves are ground to a paste
or puree, like mole verde. Since the Mexican tarragon
is much sweeter, you will have to adjust dosage accordingly.