Anise hyssop ✦

Agastache (hysope anisée)

What it is

It is neither anise nor hyssop but a North American mint whose leaves happen to carry methyl chavicol, the same molecule that scents tarragon. Plains nations brewed it and used it to sweeten other infusions, so settlers first met the plant as a sugar rather than as a herb.

In the kitchen

Heat destroys the aroma — infuse the leaves off the boil, covered, twenty minutes in cream or syrup, then strain. Keep the flowers raw and scatter them at the end; they hold what the leaves lose in a pan.

Goes with

Strawberry Peach Apricot Cream Honey Raspberry

In season alongside

Bergeron apricot Angelica Apricot Blueberry Cantaloupe melon Fennel

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