Herb of the Week - Culantro

No I did not spell that wrong, I really mean that we are highlighting 

CULANTRO (Ergyngium foetidum) as the Herb of the Week.

Culantro is not cilantro. It has long leaves with tapered tips and serrated edges. When it comes to flavor, culantro is like cilantro, times ten.

In warmer climates, above Zone 7, the actual cilantro plant can be reseeded and grown commercially, harvesting the leaves as they appear. In zone 7 and below the climate is seasonally ideal for Cilantro so many people buy the plant expecting it to bear leaves for an extended period, but it will not. The reason is true cilantro, in heat, is working to expend it's energies to go to seed, coriander. Leaves are herbs, seeds are spices as a general rule in understanding the difference between the two.

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The solution to a perennial heat bearing cilantro is to plant, Culantro - Ergyngium foetidum. Culantro is a biennial herb grown throughout the Caribbean and Central America, and is a key ingredient in Puerto Rican cooking. It is relatively unknown in the United States, and is often mistaken for its relative cilantro (Coriandrum sativum L.). It is also known by many other names, such as Puerto Rican coriander, Black Benny, saw leaf herb, Mexican coriander, Saw tooth coriander, long coriander, Spiny coriander, Fitweed, and spiritweed. In Puerto Rico it is known as recao. 

It belongs to the same plant family as cilantro, but looks quite different. The long, tough leaves smell very similar to cilantro (with much more flavor) thus making it a respectable summer substitute for cilantro, which prefers cooler weather.

  

Unlike cilantro, culantro doesn't bolt, it will produce seeds, but the foliage stays aromatic and tasty. It is a tender perennial that can be wintered over in a pot or cut back and mulch over in the fall.

Culantro is the answer for those who enjoy cilantro but live in a hot/warm climate and want fresh all spring/summer and fall.

To Grow

Culantro can be planted in pots or on the ground. If planted in the ground, this herb will continue to reproduce for an almost endless supply. Culantro is relatively pest and disease free. It is rumored to be attractive to beneficial insects such as ladybugs, green lacewings, and to provide an excellent defense in the garden against aphids. 

Growing culantro is like growing lettuce. You plant after frost in the spring, then pick individual leaves until summer’s long days and high temperatures arrive. At that point, culantro, like lettuce, will grow out of its rosette, stretching upward with a fast-growing stalk that will bloom and set seeds. Soon afterward, the plant is usually exhausted and dies. If the seeds are allowed to drop into the soil, it may reseed. However, in areas that experience freezing temperatures in winter, this tender tropical will be killed. Your best bet is to grow it in spring and cut off the flower stalk when it appears in order to encourage continued leafy growth, rather than flowers. It will eventually succeed in flowering, and when it does, the leaves will become somewhat tough and less appealing.

When cultivated, culantro thrives under well-watered, shady conditions. Grown as an annual, it is actually biennial in areas warm enough to let it overwinter.

To Use

In cooking it is used to flavor salsa, softrito, chutney, ceviche, sauces, rice, stews, and soups. To harvest, remove the oldest leaves all the way down to the base of the plant leaving the young new leaves to grow. The leaves can be chopped and used fresh or frozen to keep their flavor.

The appearance of culantro and cilantro are different but the leaf aromas are similar, although culantro is more pungent. Because of this aroma similarity the leaves are used interchangeably in many food preparations and is the major reason for the misnaming of one herb for the other. While relatively new to American cuisine, culantro has long been used in the Far East, Latin America, and the Caribbean. In Asia, culantro is most popular in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore where it is commonly used with or in lieu of cilantro and topped over soups, noodle dishes, and curries. In Latin America, culantro is mostly associated with the cooking style of Puerto Rico, where recipes common to all Latin countries are enhanced with culantro. The most popular and ubiquitous example is salsa, a spicy sauce prepared from tomatoes, garlic, onion, lemon juice, with liberal amounts of chiles. These constituents are fried and simmered together, mixed to a smooth paste and spiced with fresh herbs including culantro.

sofrito

Equally popular is sofrito or recaito, the name given to the mixture of seasonings containing culantro and widely used in rice, stews, and soups. There are reportedly as many variations of the recipe as there are cooks in Puerto Rico but basically sofrito consists of garlic, onion, green pepper, small mild peppers, and both cilantro and culantro leaves. Ingredients are blended and can then be refrigerated for months. Sofrito is itself the major ingredient in a host of other recipes including eggplant pasta sauce, cilantro garlic butter, cilantro pesto, pineapple salsa, and gazpacho with herb yogurt.

Culantro is rich in iron, carotene, riboflavin and calcium. This plant is widely used as food flavoring and seasoning herb for dishes and chutney in the Caribbean; it is popular in Asia for food use. And to use cilantro solely as a substitute for culantro in your sofrito will only result in an inferior, soulless green paste with no Caribbean whoomph! 

The culantro plant is used in traditional medicines for fevers and chills, vomiting, diarrhea, and in Jamaica for colds and convulsions in children.  The leaves and roots are boiled and the water drunk for pneumonia, flu, diabetes, constipation, and malaria fever. The root can be eaten raw for scorpion stings and in India the root is reportedly used to alleviate stomach pains. The leaves themselves can be eaten in the form of a chutney as an appetite stimulant.

Recipes

Sofrito is a versatile, aromatic mixture of herbs and vegetables used as the foundation for many Latin Caribbean dishes. There are many variations of this recipe. If you wish to prepare your sofrito with ingredients that are easy to find in any grocery store try the basic sofrito recipe. Store sofrito in a glass container in the refrigerator for immediate use or freeze sofrito in 1/4 to 1/2 cup portions for use at any time.

Basic Sofrito

2 medium green peppers, seeds removed

1 red sweet pepper, seeds removed

2 large tomatoes

2 medium onions, peeled

1 head of garlic, peeled

1 bunch cilantro leaves

1/2 bunch parsley leaves

Directions:

Chop and blend all the ingredients in a food processor or blender.

In the recipe below ajíces dulces (also called cachucha or ajicitos) are small sweet peppers with a hint of spice. They look very similar to habaneros, but aren't spicy.

Special Sofrito

2 medium Cubanelle peppers, seeds removed

4 to 6 ajíces dulces, seeds removed

1 red sweet pepper, seeds removed

2 large tomatoes

2 medium onions, peeled

1 head of garlic, peeled

1 bunch cilantro leaves

4 culantro leaves

Directions:

Chop and blend all the ingredients in a food processor or blender.

Green Rice

2 tablespoons oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh culantro
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsely
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup long-grain white rice

Directions:

 Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and jalapeno and saute until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, salt, culantro, and parsley and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and transfer to a blender with 1/2 cup of broth. Blend until smooth and set aside. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until translucent, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the herb puree and cook, stirring, to evaporate most of the liquid, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups broth, stir, cover, an reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer, without stirring, until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve, garnished with additional cilantro.