Has anyone actually used Hoja Santa (Root Beer Plant) for or in food?

Never even heard of it

I have the plant, but haven't gotten around to using it for anything culinary yet.
http://www.tradewindsfruit.com...

Anything to report on the use of this, Linda? It's interesting. Can it be used to flavor tea, etc.?

Does it smell like root beer , because it is not used to make root beer.

I was doing some reading on rootbeer and found the number one ingredient to be very surprising
Not sassafras.?

Maybe I should try it with fish? It does smell a bit like Root Beer sometimes.
http://www.oprah.com/food/Hali...

I read the description it said ''peppery'' leaves sounds interesting.

Okay, Cinda, I give - what is the main ingredient in Root Beer?

And don't say water!

so sorry I seem to have lost this thread.
Weirdly enough it is wintergreen

Root beer content is interesting. It usually includes allspice, birch bark, coriander, juniper, ginger, wintergreen, hops, burdock root, dandelion root, spikenard, pipsissewa, guaiacum chips, sarsaparilla, spicewood, wild cherry bark, yellow dock, prickly ash bark, sassafras root, vanilla beans, hops, dog grass, molasses and licorice. When I was a kid in east Texas we used to look for sassafras plants in the woods...but I doubt we even knew what they looked like!

Sassafras is a tree , they grow here like weeds in the woods edge . they are a colony tree where you find one there are usually a whole grove ,like paw paws.

Interesting plant! I like growing new herbs.
Linda, do you think you will grow it again, or is it perennial?

I would love to find a whole grove of paw paws or sassafras!

I have planted two paw paws this year. Can't wait until they get larger.

Neat Tee! Did you buy little trees? I've tried (unsuccessfully) to grow the seeds, twice! Not sure if it was me or the seeds!

Hoja Santa is perennial...of course, that's assuming you live in a warm enough climate. That info said it survives to15° to 20°, but it got down to at least 17° last winter...maybe lower, can't remember. I was surprised when it finally came back. I have it in an area that stays shady a lot of the time and it wilts quite a bit if not watered fairly often...not xeriscape. It spreads a bit sometimes...I dug one up and gave it away last year.

wildflowers said:Neat Tee! Did you buy little trees? I've tried (unsuccessfully) to grow the seeds, twice! Not sure if it was me or the seeds!

Yes, I ordered them from a natives and wildflowers nursery here in TN. Two varieties are needed for pollination.

Sorry, a bit OT. Back to the Hoja Santa. I am going to try this herb. I've never grown it.

I looked it up and looks like it would be interesting to cook with. I think I'll have to find some too. Next year I'm focusing more on herbs for my garden.

Here's a blog spot with recipes that I thought I'd share -- this gal got her plant in Oaxaca, Mexico and carried it all the way home. She said it's worth all the TLC it needs in both winter & summer.
http://flavorsofthesun.blogspo...

Tee, thank you... oops my fault for getting OT!

I share the responsibility for going OT. After all, T(ee) is my middle name.

Interesting link, Christine. I wonder how well it would grow here?

Well, I think it would get too cold here in the winter for the plant, so it would have to be grown in a pot where it could get morning sun in the summer and then brought inside, in a sunny window during the winter?? I'm just guessing but looks like it doesn't like it too hot or too cold LOL!