Sassafras

[sneezles]

I remember an article on a guy who sells sassafras but I thought that it was sometime last year. Have glanced at Jan/Feb but not seen any recipes using it.

[luv2cook]

Help me out, you guys. Wasn't there some recipes in either Jan/Feb, March, April that had sassafras in it? I can't find my Jan. mag and I swear it's not in March or April...does this ring any bells?

[Anne]

I thought real sassafras was taken off the food market because it is a carcinogen. The last time I ordered some from a food co-op it came labeled 'not for human consumption'. I had ordered it for a simmering potpourri but decided it wasn't worth having it in the house and dumped it.

[AndreaU]

Anne, I've never heard about the carcinogenic properties of sassafras... though I'll definitely look into it. At summer camp, we take nature hikes and pick sassafras leaves to make tea. Maybe if you eat the actual leaves, that's a bad thing; whereas if you steep them in boiling water (a la tea), it's o.k.?

[sneezles]

I find this odd since you can still buy File which is used to spice Gumbo.

[luv2cook]

yeah, file! Wasn't there a recipe in this year's mag that called for file? i swear I can't find it and it sounded good. I have looked and can't find the darn recipes!

[sneezles]

luv2cook
Well, there is nothing I enjoy more than a challenge of finding a recipe (remember the Teriyaki Chicken Pizza challenge?). So I sat down with this year's magazines (thank goodness only 3 out so far...I'm ignoring the thread on the May issue) and read over eac and every recipe-nary a one with file! Should we go back to December maybe? I would love to find it because I just bought a new bottle of file powder and forgot to use it in the gumbo I made last week.

[luv2cook]

hey, sneezles,I challenge you! I know it had to be CL because that's really the only mag I read and I know I saw it in a magazine, not cookbook, etc. I am missing a mazazine - Kim's gremlins came to my house and stole it!

I never even heard of it until I read the recipe and when I went to Penzy's I picked up a small jar of it.

[luv2cook]

sneezles, I just got my disk and ran a check for file. No dice! Man, I must be losing my mind http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/redface.gif

[Anne]

Hi folks. I am wondering if the cancer-sassafras link I heard about was one of those flash-in-the pan media hypes? If anyone knows more about this subject I would love to hear about it. I reluctantly gave up sassafras tea years ago and would love to find out that I was wrong.