Something New for the Beer Drinkers

 I saw this advertisement in one of the Mexico City subway stations.

"Victoria" is one of the oldest brewing companies in Mexico.  They have come out with a new flavor just for the Day of the Dead season.  It is flavored with extract of "cempasúchil", the Mexican name for the marigold, the flower which is so closely associated with the Day of the Dead.

I am not a beer drinker, but I have to wonder what marigold extract tastes like.  I did a little research, and I discovered the marigold has long been used in cooking.  They were cultivated by the Aztecs (it is from their Nahuatl language that the word "cempasúchil"comes) who used it in medicines and religious ceremonies.  Marigolds are used to add a brilliant yellow hue to dishes, and it is sometimes called "the poor man's saffron".  The taste is supposedly slightly citric and spicy.

However, don't go out to your garden and start sprinkling marigold petals in your salad.  There are some cultivars of the flower which are toxic.