HERBAL REFRESHMENT

In my herb garden is a little shrub that I had thought was manzanilla, chamomile. When it began to flower, I started looking for ways—besides the familiar, soothing tea—to use chamomile.

Manzanilla--dried chamomile flowers.

I found an intriguing recipe in Food & Wine magazine that called for cooking chicken with chamomile flowers and, on a blog, the idea of infusing cream with chamomile, chilling it and whipping it to serve with berries. 

But, when I picked the yellow flowers and sniffed them, the scent was definitely not chamomile! (Still haven’t identified my mistaken-identity herb.) By then, I was launched on my chamomile project, so I visited the herboristería in my local market and bought a packet of dried manzanilla flowers.

Three kinds of manzanilla--wine, olives, herb.

Chamomile in Spanish is manzanilla. In Spain, three unrelated products are called manzanilla. One is the herb, chamomile (matricaria recutita), commonly used as an infusion; another is Manzanilla Sherry, a fino made in Sanlucar de Barrameda, and the third is a variety of olive tree grown in Andalusia and source of the world-famous Sevilla olives.

"Manzanilla" means “little apple” and the herb apparently was named in Greek for the resemblance of the flower to a little apple. However, the wine takes its name from the town of Manzanilla (in the province of Huelva, near the Sherry district), which traditionally made a similar style of wine. The olive variety, as far as I can tell, is named because the fat olives somewhat resemble “little apples.” I also detect a slight similarity in flavor in all three—a bitter apple, subtly saline taste—but, perhaps that is only the power of a name.

Chamomile tea and a shot of anise.

In herbal medicine, chamomile is traditionally used as an antimicrobial, antiinflammatory and antispasmodic. The tea is prescribed for colic or any stomach upset. My midwife used a dilute solution of chamomile to wash the eyes of my newborn son. Andalusian campesinos (field workers) start the day with chamomile tea and a shot of strong aguardiente, anise brandy.  Chamomile makes a good hair rinse for blondes, to bring out golden highlights. It’s a soothing bath for prickly skin.

I chose to turn manzanilla into summer refreshment.

Limonada con Manzanilla

  Herbal Lemonade

When life gives you lemons--

 Inspired by a bucket of end-of-season lemons, I made a chamomile-infused, whole-lemon lemonade. Very refreshing on its own, it would also be a bitter-lemon mixer for an alcoholic tall drink. (Try it with aguardiente, an anise liqueur.) You will have to sweeten the lemonade to taste—I used stevia, a non-calorie sweetener—and dilute it with water to take the edge off the bitterness.

Made with whole lemons, this chamomile-infused lemonade has a grown-up bitter taste. Sweeten to taste.

4 cups water
4 chamomile tea bags (or about 2 tablespoons dried chamomile flowers)
Sugar or stevia (about ¼ cup)
3 whole lemons
1-2 cups water
Ice cubes to serve

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add the tea bags or flowers. Cover and let the tea steep until cool. Remove tea bags or strain out flowers.
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In blender or food processor, chop the lemons with 2 cups of the tea and sugar or sweetener. Strain the lemon water, discarding the solids. Add remaining tea and 1 to 2 cups more water. Chill the lemonade.

Serve cold with ice cubes.

Gin con Manzanilla
Chamomile Gin

Herb-infused gin and tonic. Cool.

Gin already has a herbal, botanical essence. Steeping chamomile in it adds another dimension. Use the infused gin for cocktails or for that ever-popular summer refresher, gin-tonic.

7 chamomile teabags (or 3 tablespoons chamomile flowers)
Zest of 1 lemon
2 cups gin

Open the tea bags and place the contents in a jar with the lemon zest. Add the gin. Close tightly and infuse for 24 hours or up to 1 week. Pour through a fine strainer. Store in a tightly stoppered bottle. 

Triple-Manzanilla Martini

Manzanilla (herb) in the gin, Manzanilla (wine) in the martini and Manzanilla (olive)  in the cocktail.

Manzanilla multiplied by 3: chamomile-infused gin, Manzanilla Sherry and Manzanilla olives.

Makes 2 cocktails.

Manzanilla olives
Cracked ice
4 oz chamomile gin (recipe above)
1 oz Manzanilla Sherry

Chill the martini cocktail glasses. Place 2 olives in each.

Place ice in a jar or cocktail shaker. Add the gin and Manzanilla Sherry. Shake or stir. Strain the martini into the cocktail glasses and serve.

Gin with chamomile. Cocktails?