From now on I will also feature some of the ingredients like herbs and spices that add flavor and aroma to all my recipes.

Pandan (Fragrant Screw Pine)

I use pandan leaves when I cooked our rice, it gives sweet aroma and nice flavor to the rice. It is also added to native rice puddings or rice cakes, sweetened fruit preserves and fruit juices and salads like buko (young coconut) juice and buko pandan (young coconut and gelatin concoction). It is easy to grow even in a small plant pot and we have one in our yard.

But do you know that there are many health benefits that can get from this simple plant and it is also use as cure for ailments in some countries.
• Treats leprosy, smallpox and wounds.
• Helps reduce fever
• Solves several skin problems
• Relives headache and arthritis
• Treatment for ear pains
• Functions as a laxative for children
• Eases chest pains
• Helps in speeding up the recuperation of women who have just given birth and are still weak
• Pandan reduces stomach spasms and strengthens the gum.

Preparation & Use of Pandan:
• Decoction (a method of extraction by boiling of dissolved chemicals, or herbal or plant material, which may include stems, roots, bark and rhizomes) of the bark may be taken as tea, or mixed with water that is to be used in bathing, in order to remedy skin problems, cough, and urine-related concerns.
• Apply pulverized roots of pandan to affected wound areas to facilitate healing.
• The anthers of the male flowers are used for earaches, headaches and stomach spasms.
• Chew the roots to strengthen the gum.
• Extract oils and juices from the roots and flowers are used in preparing the decoction to relieve pains brought about by headache and arthritis.