One of the most unusual
uses for any herb has to be candied Angelica stalks. Be sure to use only fairly young
stems.
Angelica has also been used to
flavor Vermouth and Chartreuse.
In
a Modern Herbal, Maude Grieve gives us a recipe for concocting your
own Angelica liqueur, delicious and good for the digestive system.
An ounce of freshly gathered stem of Angelica is chopped up and steeped in
2 pints of Good Brandy (none of that cheep stuff) with 1 ounce of bitter
almonds reduced to a pulp for five days. Strain through fine muslin and
add a pint of liquid sugar.
Angelica has a way of enhancing the flavor
of some fruits, rhubarb in particular has been paired with young Angelica
leaves to reduce the acidity of the rhubarb.
For the most part, we enjoy it as a tall interesting ornamental. If you let it
reseed, it should sprout the next year. If you collect the seed, you must sow it
immediately. After only a few weeks, the germination rate for Angelica seeds
declines dramatically.
There are about 30 species of Angelica. In the
1930's, Maude Grieve also wrote that A. archangelica is the only species
employed medicinally. Her knowledge, though vast, was restricted to the
European and American continent. We now know that the Chinese have been using Angelica sinensis or
Dong Quai for centuries.
Angelica makes an interesting addition to
our Gourmet
Herb Garden Six Pack and a tasty addition to our
Edible Flower Herb Garden Six Pack. This plant is
sometimes
available in plug trays. These trays hold 128 of all the
same plant. They are a great low cost way to fill a lot of
space. Each cell is 3/4 of inch by an inch. Check here to
see if
Angelica Plug
Trays
are available. |