Hoja santa

Piper auritum · Herb

40 pairings

Hoja santa (Piper auritum) is a large, velvety, heart-shaped Mexican leaf with a warm, complex aroma usually described as root beer, sassafras and anise crossed with eucalyptus, nutmeg and black pepper. A relative of black pepper and kava, it is folded around fish and cheese, simmered into green moles, and used as an edible wrapper across southern Mexico and Central America.

Picking a good onedrag

Just cut, blades standing off the stalkBlackened at the edge, limp and slimy

Shop freshBuy leaf sold as food. A garden-centre pot or a roadside thicket is not food: ornamental and verge plants are sprayed with pesticides never cleared for anything you eat. Safrole is a genuine carcinogen, but the FDA rule names it added to food and sassafras tea, not this leaf: eat the whole leaf, skip oils and strong teas.Everyday best

Where it came fromA named food supplier's pack, source printed on it

The bladeGreen, an odd nick or one brown fleck at the rim

The stalkPetiole bends before it snaps, cut end browning

The liftBlade folds over your hand slowly, then holds

Smell at a bruised leafClearly there, but you have to bruise it harder

What to look for, from just cut, blades standing off the stalk to blackened at the edge, limp and slimy.

Preparing