Cayenne: capsicum minimum
Garden herb
Parts used: The Fruit
Gathering: The pods should be gathered when they are fully ripe and dried in the shade.
Actions:
Antiseptic
Carminative
Rubefacient
Sialagogue
Stimulant
Tonic
Indications: Cayenne is a fantastic systemic stimulant. Its tonic effect is a specific for the circulatory system and as such it will regulate the blood flow. Cayenne will
thus help to balance and fortify the action of the heart, arteries, capillaries and
nerves. The master herbalist Richard Schulze reports that: "Cayenne should be a herb which everyone has in the
kitchen, the bathroom and in the trunk of their car...because there is no other
herb that moves the blood faster to the brain than cayenne. ...It relieves the pain of angina pectoris by
helping to get more blood to the heart muscle
itself. And if a person has a heart attack,
Cayenne is the surest first-aid remedy...I have had almost a hundred patients
actually save their lives by using a tablespoon of Cayenne pepper in a glass of
warm water and drinking it down fast."
Cayenne has been shown to lower cholesterol and remove toxins from the bloodstream. It is effective in
the treatment of cold hands and feet where peripheral blood flow is poor. Cayenne
is also taken internally to shrink haemorrhoids.
When combined with tincture of
myrrh it can be used as a gargle for laryngitis or as a general antiseptic wash on unbroken skin.
Externally cayenne is an excellent rubefacient when added to a liniment for the
treatment of rheumatic pains, lumbago and numbness of the limbs.
Preparation and dosage:
Infusion: to ½ to 1 teaspoonful of cayenne add a cup of boiling water and leave to infuse for 10-15
minutes. Mix a tablespoon of this mixture with hot water and drink as required.
Tincture: take between ¼
and 1 ml of the tincture three times a day or when required
Folklore, History and Kitchen
Witch: Cayenne falls under the dominion of Mars because of its bright red colour and its hot spicy nature. Actually,
its name is derived from the Greek ‘to bite’.
According to a study at Hamilton University, to date, the oldest known records of peppers
come from the desert valley of Tehuanacán, 150 miles south of Mexico City.
Studies of seeds and fossilised human dung found in ancient cave dwellings show
that the indigenes were eating peppers as early as 7,000 B.C. It
is assumed that the first peppers consumed were picked from wild plants. It is
thought that Peppers were one of the first plants to be domesticated in the
Americas and it can be said with some confidence that they were first grown
domestically between 5,000 and 3,000 B.C.
David Wolfe in his homage to cacao Naked Chocolate claims that
Cayenne was
a vital ingredient of the ritual Mayan chocolate drink because it intensified
the efficacy of the brew by dilating the capillaries thus allowing the sacred
cacao potion to reach the cells more easily.
The first
westerners to document its medicinal uses were explorers accompanying Columbus
on his voyages. Cayenne makes a
brief appearance in Gerard’s Herbal of 1597 where it is called Ginne or Indian pepper. Gerard says ‘ it warmeth the stomacke, and helpeth greatly the
digestion of meates’.
Culpepper seems terrified of the taste, feel and smell of cayenne it is almost risible to read his account. He says ‘they burn
and inflame the throat so extremely that it is hard to be endured, and if it be outwardly
applied to the skin on any part of the body it will exulcerate and raise it as
if it had been burnt with fire or scalded with hot water. The vapours that arise from the
husks will pierce the brain, by flying up into the head through the nostrils as to procure violent sneezings, and
draw down abundance of thin rheum, forcing tears from the eyes, and will all
pass into the throat, and provoke sharp coughing,
and cause violent vomiting’ I think we can deduce that Culpepper was not a fan of spicy foreign foods.
In the 1920’s Kloss claimed the spice to be a veritable natural wonder drug and
dedicated more pages to cayenne in his groundbreaking Back to Eden
than any other single herb.
Recipes using Cayenne...
Liniment
A liniment is an external rub to stimulate muscles and ligaments they
are generally based in alcohol or cider vinegar. Liniments are best
administered after a hot herbal bath to relax the body and open the pores. The main ingredient is
usually cayenne pepper. The
following remedy is just great for any aching joints or muscles as well as arthritic or rheumatic pain!
A Very Good Liniment
You will need
A saucepan with a lid
A couple of bottles to store
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons golden seal
2 teaspoons myrrh powder
1 pint of apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of lavender oil
Method
1. Place the cayenne, golden seal, myrrh and vinegar in a saucepan.
2. Bring to the boil and simmer gently
with a lid on for 10 minutes.
3. When absolutely cold add lavender oil
4. Pour unstrained contents into a
bottle and use externally as needed.
Mama Lou’s Anti-flu preparation: (Very Spicy!)
I have often said that a shot of
this flu mix
feels like a shot of whisky. This similarity was confirmed and expanded upon
whilst I was researching this book. I found the following in W.T. Fernie’s 1905
book Meals Medicinal: ‘Very
remarkable success attends the use of Cayenne Pepper as a substitute for alcohol with hard drinkers, and as
a valuable drug in delirium tremens; when full doses given repeatedly at such
intervals as seem necessary will reduce the tremor, and agitation within a few
hours, causing presently a calm, prolonged sleep; at the same time the skin
will become warm, and will perspire naturally; the pulse will subside in
quickness, whilst regaining fullness, and volume ; the kidneys also, and the bowels will act freely. For an intemperate person who really desires
to wean himself from indulging in spirituous liquors, and yet feels to need
some other stimulant in place thereof, at first Cayenne Pepper, given in essence,
or tincture, mixed with that of bitter orange peel, will answer most effectually, the doses being
reduced in strength, and frequency from day to day’.
When threatened by colds or flu take
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon full every half hour and hold on to your hat!
You will need
A cup boiling water
A cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
1½ teaspoons of salt
Method
1.
Mix cayenne and salt in a bowl
2.
Pour the boiling water on to the mix and allow
to cool
3.
Once cool add the cider vinegar
A Mixture to expel worms
Drink 1 teaspoon of cayenne in tepid water 1 hour after evening meal before bed and one
hour before breakfast
Raw Chocolate with cayenne
This is the most amazing thing absolutely out of this world. No
wonder the Aztecs had such spectacular art. The cayenne (as you have learnt from the herbal section) increases the
blood flow and stimulates the whole circulatory system. What better way to deliver
the wonders of raw chocolate?
There are only two things that can go wrong - chocolate hates
too much heat so you must use a Bain Marie to melt the oils and keep them just
above body temperature and should any water enter the mix it will ruin the lot.
Believe me its well worth the effort….
How to construct a Bain Marie or double boiler
Here’s how to make one for yourself out of a saucepan about a
third full of boiling water with a bowl suspended over it and that’s it… just
don’t let the flame lick up the side of the bowl and don’t let the bowl
actually touch the water in the pan.
To Make a Simple Raw Chocolate You Will Need
A Bain Marie
A Mould of some sort (a dish will do but silicone is best)
Ingredients
½ cup raw cacao powder
¼ cup food grade cocoa butter*
¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup maple
syrup (or ¼ cup maple syrup and ½ cup raw honey)
A pinch of cayenne pepper to taste
Method
For this
recipe once the water in the Bain Marie has boiled the whole thing can be taken
off the heat
Melt cocoa
butter and coconut oil in a bowl over hot water (don’t keep the water on the boil as
the oils melt just above body temperature and you don’t want to let them get
much hotter than this)
1.
Sift
cacao powder into a bowl
2.
Pour
oils on to cacao
3.
Add
remaining ingredients
4.
Stir
well and pour into molds
5.
Refrigerate
for about 30 minutes before eating
*Note for a harder chocolate add a
higher proportion of cocoa butter to coconut oil so
long as the total butter/oil remain at ½ a cup.
