An orange or a herb? Bergamot
"one of several fragrant herbs of the genus Monarda (family Lamiaceae) or the fruit of the bergamot orange (Citrus ×aurantium). The bergamot herbs and the bergamot orange have a similar characteristic floral fragrance and are commonly used in perfumes and as a flavouring." Encyclopædia Britannica
I and one of my fellow Italian students had a slight disagreement today over what bergamot was. I claimed it was a herb - I had grown it - and she that it was an orange and the flavouring in Earl Grey tea. So I looked it up and it turns out we are both almost right, but not quite.
Definitely not quite right in the sense that neither of us thought that the other version existed - so I'm wrong in saying it's not an orange and she is wrong in saying it's not a herb. However, we are also a bit more wrong, because I remembered the flower as blue, whereas it is actually red - as in the beautiful photograph above, or purple and she is wrong in that it's not an orange, but a hybrid cross between a bitter orange and a lemon - or lime. Opinion seems to differ. A citrus fruit though.
First of all the herb, because, actually it seems this is rather less important. It's Latin name is monarda didyma but it has lots of other common names including Oswego tea and scarlet bee balm. And now that I see the pictures I do remember that the flowers were red not blue. I was thinking of borage when I said blue. It comes from North America.
The flowers are also a bit wispy and you can buy lots of different hybrids because it's a popular garden plant - in America anyway. It's called bergamot because its flavour is reminiscent of the bergamot orange. You can make a tea from the leaves which is said to be a good antiseptic as it contains thymol - the main ingredient in modern day mouthwashes. The Native Americans used it the same way. It's part of the larger mint family. But it doesn't seem to be used much in cooking - I saw that some people say it can be used in the same way as oregano, but I don't think people do. It's not yet the next big thing and probably never will be.
Wild bergamot is purple in colour on the other hand. This is called bee balm because its leaves are mushed up and put on bee stings to soothe the pain.
Now the fruit. I knew that Earl Grey tea was flavoured with bergamot and so assumed the plant I know. I knew you could make tea from it so what more natural than to assume that some of it was in the Earl Grey tea. But I was wrong. Earl Grey tea's flavour comes from the citrus fruit.
Now this plant is called citrus bergamia and is named after the Italian city of Bergamo in Lombardy which used to sell the essential oil. Actually it is Asian - like most citrus I think - and has a rival for the etymology in the Turkish 'bay armudu' which means either prince's pear or prince of pears. It's not a pear but it is pear shaped and has very wrinkly skin. I also saw that most sites I visited said that the fruit is inedible but apparently the Turks make marmalade from it.
Nowadays most of the world's supply comes from Calabria in southern Italy.
The skin is the thing, and the essential oil within it. Which I saw somewhere is extracted by pressing by hand into a sponge - not at all a likely story it seems to me. I'm guessing they have machines to do this.
And yes it's what gives Earl Grey tea it's distinctive flavour. Earl Grey was a British politician responsible for the Great Reform Act in 1832, and the tea was named after him. Lady Grey tea is named for his wife. He had the original recipe although how he came by it is somewhat shrouded in mystery. One version is that he saved somebody in China and was given the tea by the grateful Chinese. Which apparently cannot be true as he never went to China. He could have been gifted it though. Whatever the origins its fame spread and was taken up by various commercial enterprises. Twinings' version is the most well known although there are others. Twinings do not have a patent or trademark on the name. However, a few years ago they dared to change the formula - to outrage in England. The public didn't like it. Twinings is hanging in there - I don't think it is resolved yet.
The essential oil from the skin is also a basic, and very popular ingredient in perfume. It is so versatile that it can be used as the dominant note, or as a support to both light, and spicy aromas.
"Bergamot is the ultimate team player in perfume." Steve Johnson - Scentbird
There seem to be several perfumes that are based on bergamot, but I did not recognise any of the names. Two that I did recognise were Eau Sauvage - a favourite of my husband's and also Shalimar by Guerlain which apparently is 30% bergamot.
But of course the aromatherapy people are in on it too and promote it for pain, anxiety, depression. A relaxant in other words.
So I learnt something today. However trivial it is.
