Sassafras albidum



Tri-lobed leaves of S. albidum


Is there a more intriguing name than Sassafras?  This eastern North American species is native from southern Maine and southern Ontario west to Iowa and south to central Florida and eastern Texas. It occurs throughout the eastern deciduous forest habitat type, at altitudes of sea level up to about 5000 feet.  It once occurred in southern Wisconsin, but is extirpated there as a native tree.

Sassafras albidum is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 30 feet tall (less in its northern range) with a trunk up to 2 feet diameter (also less in its northern range) and a crown with many slender branches. The bark on trunk of mature trees is thick, dark red-brown, and deeply furrowed.  The shoots are bright yellow green at first with mucilaginous (slippery) bark that turns reddish brown and in two or three years begins to show shallow fissures. The leaves come in three different shapes, all of which can be on the same branch; three-lobed leaves, unlobed elliptical leaves, and two-lobed leaves; there are rarely more than three lobes. In fall, they turn shades of yellow tinged with red. The flowers are produced in loose, drooping, few-flowered racemes in early spring shortly before the leaves appear; they are yellow to greenish-yellow with five or six tepals (petals and sepals) It is usually dioecious, i.e., has male and female flowers on separate trees.  Pollination is by insects. The fruit is a small, dark blue-black drupe containing a single seed that ripens in late summer; the seeds are dispersed by birds. All parts of the plant are aromatic and spicy—like the root beer made from the bark. The roots are thick and fleshy, and frequently produce root sprouts which can develop into new trees.


 

Flowers



Fruit

It prefers rich, well-drained sandy loam, but will grow in any loose, moist soil. Seedlings will tolerate shade, but saplings and older trees demand full sunlight for good growth; in forests it typically regenerates in gaps created by wind. Growth is rapid, particularly with root sprouts, which can reach 15 feet in 4 years. Root sprouts often result in dense thickets, and a single tree, if allowed to spread unrestrained, will soon be surrounded by a sizable clonal colony, as its roots extend in every direction and send up multitudes of shoots.

A colony with many shoots

Sassafras is often grown as an ornamental tree for its unusual leaves and aromatic scent. Outside of its native area, it is occasionally cultivated in Europe and elsewhere. The wood is dull orange brown, hard, and durable in contact with the soil; it was used in the past for posts and rails, small boats and yokes for oxen, though scarcity and small size limit current use. Some is still used for making furniture. An essential oil, called sassafras oil, is distilled from the root bark or the fruit. It was used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps, food (sassafras tea and candy flavoring) and for aromatherapy. The smell of sassafras oil is said to make an excellent repellent for mosquitoes and other insects,[citation needed] which makes it a nice garden plant. Acids can be extracted from bark for manufacturing perfumes. The essential oil was used as a pain killer as well as an antiseptic in dentistry.  The pith is used to soothe eye inflammation.

The root or root bark is used to make tea, although most commercial so-called sassafras teas are now artificially flavored as a result of the 1976 FDA ban on sassafras oil containing safrole, a potent carcinogen. A yellow dye is obtained from the wood. The shoots were used to make root beer, a traditional soft drink beverage carbonated with yeast, which owed its characteristic odor and flavor to the sassafras extract. Most commercial root beers have replaced the sassafras extract with methyl salicylate, found in wintergreen and black birch (Betula lenta) bark. A safrole-free sassafras extract is now available for flavoring. The dried and ground leaves, which do not contain safrole, are known as filé powder.  

Filé is still used for thickening sauces and soups in Cajun, Creole, and other Louisiana cooking, notably in the dish filé gumbo.  Early Louisiana  settlers learned about filé from the Choctaw Indians.  With an earthy taste that is similar to thyme combined with savory, ground sassafras will lend a unique flavor to stews, sauces and other hearty dishes. It also serves as a thickening agent but should only be stirred in at the end of cooking. If allowed to boil, filé powder will cause a liquid to become stringy and unappetizing.  

Seafood and Chicken Filé Gumbo Serves 3-4

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

4 Tbsp Creole Seasoning

1 Cup Onions, diced

1/2 Cup Green Bell Pepper, diced

1/2 Cup Celery, diced

1 Cup Andouille sausage, sliced or diced

1/2 Cup Tasso, diced

3 Tbsp Garlic, chopped

8 Cups Shrimp or Seafood Stock

3 Fresh Bay Leaves

4 Chicken Thighs, boned cut into 1″ pieces, then seasoned liberally with Creole Seasoning

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

Hot Sauce to taste

1 lb. Fresh Shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 Dozen Oysters, shucked

Kosher Salt to taste, if necessary

2 Tbsp Italian Parsley, chopped

1/4 Cup Thinly Sliced Green Onions

Boiled Rice

Fresh French Bread

Filé Powder and hot sauce at the table

Mix your onion, celery, and bell pepper (known down in Louisiana as the Holy Trinity).  Heat the oil in a cast iron dutch oven over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook to make a milk chocolate-colored roux. Add the Andouille, 1 Tbsp of seasoning, and 3/4 of the Holy Trinity, cook, stirring often, for about ten minutes or until the vegetables soften. Gradually whisk in the stock, then add the remaining seasoning, and garlic. Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken and simmer until cooked through. About 10 minutes before you are ready to serve add the shrimp, cook until done, then add the oysters and cook until the edges curl. Add the Worcestershire, Hot Sauce, and 1/2 of the Green Onions. Serve with boiled rice and crusty French Bread. Garnish with green onions and parsley.  Pass hot sauce (for those who like it hotter) and filé powder (for those who like it thicker) at the table.

A word of caution:  Commercial filé often contains no sassafras at all and won't taste right or do the thickening job it is supposed to do.  To make your own 100% filé powder, first find a sassafras tree.  Take some branches (traditionally during the August full moon) with young leaves and hang them in the sun sheltered from rain to dry for a week (this can also be done in a low oven at 200 degrees in a shorter time).  When the leaves are dry, remove the leaves from the stems and pulverize  in a mortar and pestle, a spice grinder, or a food processor.  Press the powder through a  fine sieve to remove all of the little twigs, and tough pieces.

Store in the dark in an airtight container.





A yummy chicken & seafood filé gumbo with rice. Pass the Tabasco