This is the well-known old-fashioned marigold of cottage gardens. It is a favourite garden flower because the flowering period is spread over summer and well into autumn, as indicated by the generic name derived from the Latin `Kalendae’, which in the ancient Roman calendar always marked the first day of the month.
Its use as a herb actually came about by fraud, for in the days of the Roman Empire the poor used it in place of the costly saffron, a practice that continues to this day. It deserves to be forgiven, however, for its lovely colouring, called calendulin, is used as colouring matter not only in butter and cheese but also in soups, sauces and pastries.
As everyone will agree food is enjoyed not only for its flavour and aroma but also for its visual appeal. Calendulin is soluble in fats, so if used to colour dough, marigold must first be boiled in milk.
The flowers were most popular in the Middle Ages when they were commonly used to colour food, mostly soups. They were believed to have healing properties: ‘The mere sight of marigolds banishes a bad humour and strengthens the sight. Maidens make them into wreaths on their name-day and birthday to adorn their heads with their vivid reds and yellows.’
The fresh buds are unpleasantly bitter but drying destroys their pungent flavour. For this reason they arc preserved by salting or better still by pickling in a vinegar solution. Most products are obtained from cultivated shrubs, grown chiefly in southern France, Spain, Italy and north Africa. Plantations are renewed after fifteen years, when the yield from aging shrubs begins to decline.
They must be dried rapidly in shade to preserve the colour for this fades when exposed to sunlight. The dried flowers should be stored in a dark, dry, well-ventilated place or in air-tight containers. To this day the flowers are used by the pharmaceutical industry in antispasmodics and in preparations promoting the healing of wounds
