Mexican Pepperleaf

Here is yet another herb that I have yet to have the pleasure of trying. I plan to visit Mexico one day, so I'm sure I will experience it then if not sooner.

Mexican pepperleaf plant	Mexican pepperleaf flower	Mexican pepperleaves

Species:	Piper auritum.
Origin:	Central America.
Source:	The plant is native to Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Panama and Northern Colombia.
Used Part:	Fresh leaves, which can grow to sizes of 30cm or more.
Family:	Piperaceae (pepper family).
Effect:	Aromatic and pleasant, loosely reminiscent of anise, nutmeg and black pepper. The flavour is strongest in the young stems and veins, which additionally have a pleasant warming pungency.
Etymology:	For the etymology of genus name piper and the initial part of pepperleaf, see pepper. Many modern names refer to the Mexican origin of the plant, e.g. Danish Mexikansk peber-blad, German Mexicanischer blattpfeffer, French Poivre Mexicain and Hungarian Mexikói borslevél.
	The species name auritus derives from Latin auris "ear" and means "long-eared", referring to the shape of the leaves. Spanish names hoja santa "sacred leaf" and yerba santa "sacred herb" may hints at cultic use of this plant in Aztec rituals. The English name "root beer plant" is motivated by the olfactory similarity to sassafras, used to prepare the US soft drink root beer.
Uses:	Mexican pepper leaf is a spice that is hardly ever found outside of its region of origin. The spice is much used in the cuisines of tropical Mexico, where the leaves are a fragrant decoration or can be wrapped around a stuffing and steamed, baked or grilled. A famous recipe from the Veracruz province (where the spice is particularly popular) is pescado en hoja santa (fish wrapped in pepper leaves, baked and served with a spicy tomato sauce). In Central Mexico, pepperleaf is used to flavour the chocolate drink "Aztecs' chocolate".
	Mexican pepperleaves are an essential ingredient for mole verde, one of the famous los siete moles "seven sauces of Oaxaca". Mole verde differs from other kinds of mole by being composed mostly of fresh herbs and the absence of any ground nuts or seeds (there are, however, versions that contain pumpkin seeds both for flavour and for a deep green colour). As with other moles, it is made from several spices (cloves, cumin, green jalapeño or serrano chillies, garlic), herbs (thyme, marjoram, parsley) and tomatillos, which are boiled in chicken stock and then puréed. The liquid is thickened with masa harina "corn flour" and seasoned with ground pepper leaves and optionally epazote. Mole verde goes well with poultry and, unlike other moles, tastes best when fresh.
	Since dried or fresh leaves are hard to obtain outside of tropical Mexico, cooks often use substitutes (usually Mexican avocado leaves). Mexican tarragon or even ordinary French tarragon will work in recipes that use pureed leaves, but are no use for recipes that use Mexican pepper-leaves as wrappers for fish, poultry or tamales, in which case Thai basil (horapha type) can be tried.