Lemon tagetes ✦

Tagète citron (œillet d’Inde citron)

What it is

Tagetes tenuifolia is the marigold grown to be eaten: it is the foliage that carries the lemon-and-tarragon scent, and the flowers barely reach a centimetre across. Calendula, the other plant sold as marigold, belongs to an entirely different genus and runs bitter rather than lemony.

In the kitchen

The leaf is stronger than the petal — snip a few leaves into a dressing and keep the petals for colour. Everything goes on raw at the last second: cooked, the scent turns to marigold bed and stays there.

Goes with

Cucumber Tomato Scallop Goat cheese Peach Olive oil

Same species

Huacatay (Peruvian black mint)

In season alongside

Anise hyssop Chinotto Lemon verbena Purple basil Shiso Thai basil

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