Recipe
Black beans with epazote (frijoles de la olla)
- Herb:
- Epazote Dysphania ambrosioides
- Method:
- Culinary use
- Plant part:
- Leaf
About 90 minBeginnerRecipe science profile
Procedure
- Soak 500 g of black beans overnight, drain and put into a pot with 1.5 l of water, half an onion and 2 garlic cloves.
- Bring to the boil and simmer covered on a low flame for 1–1.5 hours until tender; top up with hot water as needed.
- In the last half hour add 2–3 sprigs of fresh epazote and salt.
- Remove the sprigs before serving; serve with tortillas, and mash leftovers next day into frijoles refritos.
Extraction
- Herb:
- 2–3 snítky čerstvého epazote (asi 5 g) na 500 g fazolí
- Solvent:
- dlouhé vaření ve fazolovém vývaru; snítky se přidávají v poslední půlhodině
- Shelf life:
- 4 dny v lednici
- Target compounds:
- silice (ascaridol, p-kymen) přechází do vývaru jen v malém množství; vaření část ascaridolu rozkládá
Notes
A kitchen amount of fresh leaf in cooked food is traditional Mexican practice. But epazote contains ascaridole — the oil, seeds, concentrated decoctions and 'deworming cures' made from it have caused poisonings; not in pregnancy, for children only in food. Leaf only, cooked only.
Why it works
Epazote goes into beans traditionally 'against wind' — no mechanism is proven; the aroma comes from p-cymene and ascaridole. Ascaridole is also the reason for caution: the review by Heredia Severino et al. summarises its toxicity at high doses (oil, seeds); cooked leaf in food is another category from the oil.
Literature
- Heredia Severino A, Fernández-López J, Borrás-Rocher F, Viuda-Martos M (2025): Essential Oils and Extracts from Epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides). Plants 14(13):1903 — Přehled složení a toxicity silice (ascaridol).
Related
Epazote — Herb card
Culinary use — Processing method detail