Lemon balm

Mélisse

What it is

Melissa is Greek for honey bee: beekeepers rubbed the crushed leaf inside a new hive to persuade a swarm to settle in it. Carmelite friars in Paris were distilling it as eau de mélisse des Carmes from 1611, and something close to the same formula is still sold in French pharmacies.

In the kitchen

Its lemon note collapses on heat, so infuse it cold — a handful in a jug of water or cream, a few hours in the fridge, beats any hot infusion. Bruise it, do not chop: cut edges blacken and go grassy within minutes.

Goes with

Strawberry Peach Honey Cucumber Yogurt Mint

In season alongside

Bamboo shoot Brousse du Rove Buckler-leaf sorrel Celeriac Cévennes sweet onion Chayote

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us