Tisane ma Louisa | All Natural Flu, Cold & Fever Fighting Herbal Tea

بِسْــــــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِارَّحْمَنِ ارَّحِيم

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

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I was sick this past weekend. Unless you follow me on Facebook, you probably didn’t know…because for some weird reason I was super productive last Thursday getting myself set up for a busy weekend with the kids. I even to did a marathon bake of several breakfast breads and managed to tackle the high pile of laundry that accumulated during the week. Then I woke up sick Friday morning. Had I not been abnormally on top of my game, you wouldn’t have heard from me all week.

I woke up with a sore throat Friday and hoped it was some type of allergy (to all the dust and construction debris from my neighbors). But it wasn't.  I came home from our morning Friday Halaqa class and made a big pot of chicken bone broth and "tisane louisa".

What is Louisa?

Tisane ma Louisa is an old traditional and all natural remedy that Algerians (and the French) drink when they don't feel well. It's Latin name is Aloysia citrodora and known in French as verveine or tisane aux tilleurs and in English as vervain, lemon verbena or lemon beebrush. It's a woody, deciduous shrub that has a distinct lemony scent. The plant itself has small, lavender flowers that grow in spikes from the leaf axils. The leaves are light green in color and slightly toothed at the edges. The plant reaches a mature height of 10 to 15 feet in warm climates. The leaves and flowering leaves are used in folk medicine to help with a wide array of illnesses from agitation, asthma, joint pain, fever, insomnia, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, influenza, the common cold, chills, menstural cramping used for digestive disorders including indigestion, gas, colic,diarrhea, and constipation. In foods and manufacturing, vervain is used as an ingredient in fish and poultry dish, in herbal teas, as a fragrance in perfumes, and as an ingredient in a Peruvian soft drink and several alcoholic beverages. It was also considered an herb of inspiration and has long been regarded as a powerful ally of poets and writers. 

The main chemical compound in vervain is Citral. It makes up 35 percent of the total composition, and the rest is made of Nerol and Geraniol. Most of the beneficial properties of vervain come from these compounds.

And if any of you follow the angsty supernational drama series "The Vampire Dairies" you'll know consuming and being in contact with vervain can weaken any vampire. From Wikipedia, "Other legends held it that vervain protects people from  vampires, by mixing it in a herbal tea, keeping it near you, or using oil extracted from it in a bath."

There is also a heavy religious significance to the herb, sometimes called "herb-of-the-cross." Some believe that it grew on the hill of Golgotha and was used to stop the bleeding of Prophet Isa's wounds when he was taken down from the cross. In ancient Rome it was considered one of the sacred herbs and highly powerful. It was often used to "sanitize" their homes and temples. It has been called "holy herb" and "devil's bane."

For all those not love with Damon, Stefan and their ban of blood-sucking friends, this herb might be a handy little herb to keep around. J

Here in Algeria, we don't worry about vampires but the common cold, fever and chills often comes around this time of year. Traditionally, this herb is steeped in North African style green tea, hot milk or hot water, it might also be used as part of herbal medicinal blends like the one I'm sharing today. It's a herbal remedy introduced to me by my late mother-n-law. And like all medicine of the bled, it works! One cup of this and by morning fever, chills, cold it's gone. I usually sweetened mine with 1 tablespoon of wild thyme honey but you can use your favorite sweetener ... or omit altogether.

"Louisa" is native to North Africa, West Asia and Europe. It can be found growing wild in such roadside, river banks, open pastures and paddocks. In Algeria, some grow it in their gardens but most buy it by weight in the souq.

 { tisane ma louisa }

a distinctive strong lemony herbal tea popularly used in algeria as well as other north african countries to reduce fever, increase energy, relief fatigue and listlessness etc.

SERVING

YIELD: 1 serving

active PREP TIME: 1-2 mins

inACTIVE PREP TIME: 0 mins

COOK TIME: 5-8 mins

EQUIPMENT

 spoon, strainer, cup, pot or kettle 

۞ = SUBSTITUTIONS

. 

INGREDIENTS

• handful of fresh loose leaf vervain/lemon verbena (about 1/2 cup) OR 3 tsp dried 
• half lemon
• 1 cup - 250ml purified filtered water
• sweetener of choice, to taste

METHOD

POUR the filtered purified water into a tea pot or electric kettle. Bring the water to a boil. Turn off the fire.

ADD the vervain and allow to steep for 5-8 minutes. 

GENTLY stir, crushing the leaves a little, then strain out the leaves. Add the juice of half lemon and pour into a cup or mug.

TO SERVE 

Serve hot with a slice of lemon, sweetened with your favorite sweetener. For me, I like to use about one tablespoon local wild thyme honey.

SAHA F'TOURKOUM! 

KITCHEN TIPS  

MAKE A BATCH

You can drink this delicious herbal tea even when you're not sick. My mother-n-law used to drink a cup a day to energize herself and help with digestion. Double or triple the amounts, allow to cool then store in a pitcher or thermos until you need it.

CATEGORIES: mama's magic box, mediterranean, algerian, french, beverages, 

SOURCE: my late mother -n- law

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how do you keep from getting sick or treating it naturally when you do?

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