Toothache plant

Acmella oleracea · Herb

40 pairings

The toothache plant (Acmella oleracea), known in Brazil as jambú and in the drinks trade as the szechuan or electric "buzz button", is a low, sprawling annual herb of the daisy family whose leaves and gumdrop-shaped flower heads deliver a startling electric tingle, numbing fizz and flood of saliva when chewed. It flavours the Amazonian dishes tacacá and pato no tucupi and has become a novelty cocktail garnish and a natural local anaesthetic.

Picking a good onedrag

Just cut, standing up, buttons tightLimp and blackened, the buzz gone

Market freshLeaves cook as a green by the handful - tacaca, tucupi broths, rice. Buttons are the concentrated part, eaten sparingly: one is a portion. A tingle that fades, not a poison.Everyday best

Where it came fromA food-grade edible-flower punnet, source on it

The flower buttonsColour still strong, a button or two softening

Leaf and stemGreen, the gloss dulling, a nick or yellow rim

Lift the bunchHolds, the lowest leaves starting to hang

Rub a leaf, then nibble the edgeGreen, the buzz slower to arrive but clear

What to look for, from just cut, standing up, buttons tight to limp and blackened, the buzz gone.

Preparing