Sassafras has historically been considered a medicinal herb—used to treat fevers, inflammation, scurvy, dysentery, and sexually transmitted diseases, among other things—in addition to being used as a flavoring. Sassafras root was traditionally an ingredient in root beer, and in the 17th century, sassafras oil was used to mask the taste of opium in remedies given to children. In the 1960s, however, the FDA banned the oil in mass-produced food and drugs following studies showing that large doses of it caused liver damage and cancer in lab rats (sassafras oil, or safrole, is also an ingredient in ecstasy). Since then, artificial versions have been used in root beer.
To go with the rabbit, “we roasted some carrots because I thought it was funny—rabbits, carrots—on top of a bed of sassafras roots and branches,” Shelton said, “and right when I opened it up it made me think of a barnyard,” He further described the smell as “umami, meaty,” and said the roasted carrots tasted a little like root beer, but only at the very end.
