SALT’s philosophy has two pillars: local ingredients and using a wide variety of wild and medicinal plants in a versatile and creative way. Our kitchen team works around the clock on recipes to showcase the ingredients’ familiar yet unexpected sides.
Chamomile is one of the most important medicinal plants in Hungary. Even though besides its medicinal properties, chamomile’s rich flavour is also well-known, it is not as popular as, for example, lavender, and is mostly known as a tea that soothes inflammation.
Chamomile is a plant with impressive medicinal properties that have been cherished since antiquity and it is still one of the most widely used and researched medicinal plants. Due to the range of medicinal compounds found in the flowers of this essential oil-rich plant, to this day chamomile is popular to treat digestive disorders, combat inflammation and soothe skin problems.
Chamomile is most commonly used in tinctures, creams and other pharmaceutic products. However, its culinary value has only recently been discovered in Hungary.
Chamomile from the Great Hungarian Plain
Finding a new approach to chamomile would be important, especially because the high quality of Hungarian chamomile has earned a prominent place on the world market. Moreover, the chamomile blossom, i.e. the flower hand-picked from the Great Hungarian Plain is a “Hungarikum”, a protected product of Hungarian origin. This label refers to products that are of special quality, uniqueness and value, closely linked to Hungary’s cultural and natural characteristics.
The composition of the active ingredients found in chamomile can vary depending on the geographical area. The drier, sunnier weather of the lowlands and the light, sandy soil, especially in the Transtisza region, have a positive effect on the growth and essential oil content of chamomile. Most of the high-quality, high essential oil content Hungarian chamomile grown here is exported to help improve the lower quality, cheaper chamomile abroad.
A high-quality ingredient
The quality of chamomile is mainly determined by its essential oil content. One of its most important active ingredients is azulene which is extracted by distillation and is surprisingly blue in colour.
The high-quality Hungarian chamomile, besides being used in medicine and beauty, is also an exciting ingredient in the kitchen.
The pleasant, slightly sweet taste of the chamomile flower can be added to a wide range of dishes and drinks. It goes especially well with honey and citrus fruits and dishes made with milk or cream, and in recent years it has also gained popularity as an ingredient used in alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
We also love experimenting with chamomile in the restaurant: it appears in dishes such as the iconic koji rice pudding or the sour brain soup inspired by the recipe of Pál Kövi. And as for drinks, you can taste chamomile in some of our kombuchas and tibicos.
From a clean source only
Hungarian herb cultivation reached its heyday after WWI. This was the time when the Herb Experiment Station was founded in Cluj-Napoca, and many Hungarian patents and inventions are also connected to the field: among others, the prototype of the chamomile harvester was created by Hungarian experts. As with most medicinal plants, chamomile cultivation and collection declined sharply after the change of regime. As farmers’ cooperatives disappeared, large-scale herb cultivation virtually ceased to exist and the otherwise excellent nationwide collection network collapsed.
Today, SALT sources chamomile from János Litkei’s herbal manufactory in Tiszafüred, where environmentally friendly methods of cultivation, sustainability and nature conservation are of utmost importance. The chamomile is harvested with a chamomile comb – a process definitely not as easy as it sounds.
This spring we had the opportunity to visit John’s small farm, where shared his decades of knowledge to our great pleasure and we could also experience first-hand the hard physical work that goes into picking chamomile.
