Chamomile -- is it pronounced meal or mile? Well, both are correct, but it depends on what dictionary you use as to which one is preferred. I personally like "Chamo-meal" since that is how my mother said it when she read Peter Rabbit to me. It brings back cozy feelings, curled up next to her as she read me stories of that naughty bunny, the sound of her voice lulling me to sleep, which is exactly what chamomile is famous for. Mrs. Rabbit gave chamomile to her son whenever he got into trouble with Mr. McGregor; maybe I should have tried that with my children; although I did make them chamomile tea with honey when they were sick. So I wasn't such a bad mom, was I?
Chamomile has been used for everything from a relaxing tea made from the dried flowers which aids insomnia, a hair rinse which lightens blond hair,and a flavoring for sherry. It works well as an anti-inflammatory, and used as a mouthwash, can relieve the pain of canker sores and sore throats. Bathe your eyes in a cooled infusion or inhale the warm fragrance over a steamy bowl of water to relieve nasal congestion. It can lessen flatulence and relieve indigestion or nausea. With all of its many virtues, it's even mild enough for children and works well in small doses to relieve colic in babies. What more could you want?
Are we done yet? Not really. Before grass lawns were planted, it became fashionable in England to grow the low-growing variety (called Roman chamomile) as a yard on which to play their lawn games. It had the pleasant fragrance of apples, and it was said that the more it was walked on the thicker it grew. It only required mowing 2-3 times a year. I wonder why we don't try growing it like that today?
If you wish to make a relaxing tea, place 2-3 teaspoons in a teaball and steep it in a cup of hot water for 4-5 minutes. If you wish to make an infusion to cure your ailments, make a stronger concoction by steeping the flowers and leaves for 10-15 minutes. Be careful if you have allergies to pollen; it could cause a mild reaction.
In a thousand unseen ways, we have drawn shape and strength from the land.
Lyndon B. Johnson
1 comments:
Actually it is the biggest mispronounced or misspelled word in the dictionary. First since when is CH a K sound in English? Chalk, Child, Chatter, Chat is a "cha" sound. Its not a 'k' sound in any example in English. How we learned to pronounce "chamomile" it should be correctly spelled kamomill. I suppose that's why English is one of the more difficult languages to learn since it makes no sense to the pronunciation of words in correlation to how they are written. The sounds are committed to memory and follow no rules on how a word is written. But really Chamomile is a very strange example of the strange idiosyncrasies of English. Great herb though, excellant health benefits.
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