Ginseng

     Miraculous curative powers are attributed to the ginseng plant, which has held a leading position in Chinese herbal medicine for over fifty centuries. The root of the plant is the most valued part (although the leaves and flowers can be used for tea that echoes the qualities of the root, in milder form). The root is gnarled and strangely shaped, and the more it resembles the shape of a man, the more valuable it is considered. Perfect roots of this type sell for thousands of dollars on the ever-fluctuating ginseng market. Ginseng was discovered growing wild in America in the eighteenth century. Although American ginseng is considered to be inferior in quality to the Asiatic, when one considers the high prices of Asiatic ginseng, the American plant begins to look pretty good! The root has been brought under cultivation on both sides of the earth, but the cultivated root is considered inferior to the wild root.

            Ginseng is reputed to ease childbirth pains, relieve menopausal symptoms, and increase sexual desire. It is also used as a disease preventive, to aid digestion and strengthen the stomach, to promote appetite, to ward off constipation – and as a general tonic for just about any complaint in men, women, and children.

            Ginseng is sold in liquid, powder, capsule, root forms. The liquid and powder may be dissolved and taken as tea or mixed with other beverages. The root may be chewed or chopped and boiled for use as a tea.

Chicory

            Where would the coffee of France and New Orleans be without its chicory? For it is the mixture of the roasted chicory root with the coffee bean that  yields the distinctive brew of these areas. (Purist coffee lovers might call this adulteration rather than mixture).

            Chicory is a wild plant that is often brought under cultivation (more in Europe than in the United States); its delicate blue flowers close at night and then open again with clocklike regularity in the morning hours. The plant shares many of the medicinal and culinary uses of its relative the dandelion. Its tasty bitter leaves act as a stimulant to the appetite and digestion and can be eaten raw in salad or cooked as a vegetable. The leaves can also be chopped and brewed as a tea that is useful for liver ailments, gout, and rheumatism. The chicory root, ground and roasted, is used as a coffee substitute, and when combined with coffee is said to counteract its stimulating effects.