Recipe
Moroccan green tea with chih (white wormwood)
- Herb:
- White wormwood Artemisia herba-alba
- Method:
- Herbal infusion (tea)
- Plant part:
- Leaf
About 15 minBeginnerRecipe science profile
Procedure
- Put a tablespoon of Chinese green tea (gunpowder) into a pot, scald with a little boiling water and pour off the first rinse.
- Add a small sprig of dried or fresh chih and sugar to taste (traditionally a lot).
- Pour over 500 ml of boiling water and let it draw for 3–5 minutes; it can be briefly boiled on the stove as in Morocco.
- Pour from a height into small glasses so the tea foams; drink hot, in small glasses.
Extraction
- Herb:
- 1 small sprig (about 1 g) per 500 ml pot of green tea
- Solvent:
- boiling water with green tea and sugar, 3–5 minutes
- Shelf life:
- drink immediately
- Target compounds:
- essential oil (camphor, thujone, cineole depending on chemotype) and bitter sesquiterpene lactones only partly; mainly aroma
Notes
The winter version of Moroccan tea, where chih replaces mint. This is flavouring by the pinch — white wormwood contains camphor and thujone depending on chemotype and its essential oil is acutely toxic in animal tests. Not for pregnant women or children, not daily for months.
Why it works
Chih gives the tea a camphorous, bitter aroma from its volatile oil and sesquiterpene lactones; this is culinary flavouring, traditionally 'for the stomach'. Bertella et al. measured antibacterial activity in vitro and acute toxicity in mice for the essential oil — the concentrated oil is not drunk, a pinch of the plant in tea is another category.
Literature
- Bertella A et al. (2018): Artemisia herba-alba Asso. essential oil antibacterial activity and acute toxicity. Ind Crops Prod 116:137–143 — Essential oil composition and its acute toxicity in mice — hence only a pinch in tea, never a concentrate.
Related
White wormwood — Herb card
Herbal infusion (tea) — Processing method detail