[Sca-cooks] moretum

[Sue Clemenger]

I don't have that problem with rue (which I've only tasted once ;-| ), but I
have a very big, similar problem with bergamot and oil of bergamot (the
citrus fruit that flavors Earl Grey tea).  Since I had such a horrible
reaction to a dilute version of the oil (like chemical burns--took a LONG
time for the scars to fade), I was advised to stay away from taking
internally (as a flavoring in tea or anything else.  Just in case.
--Maire

----- Original Message -----
From: <lilinah at earthlink.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 5:44 PM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] moretum


> While contact dermatitis from rue, as Cordelia gets, is not typical
> of all people, it is definitely a known problem with the plant. if
> the rue is cooked, however, it usually no longer causes this problem.
>
> On the other hand, if i had that kind of reaction, i'd be hesitant to
> eat rue. It recalls to my mind an experience of some friends of mine,
> back in the late 60s or early 70s:
>
> They'd heard that if one drank a tea made of poison ivy, it could
> make one resistant to getting contact dermatitis, the common rash,
> from it for the season. So the couple made tea of the leaves and
> drank it. It is true that Native Americans did this - using the very
> young shoots. My friends, however, used mature leaves. Nothing like
> contact dermatitis on the inside and around every orifice...