Meet culantro—cilantro’s tropical counterpart. It tastes exactly like cilantro, except that in the right conditions, it grows all year round. This episode touches on how limited our repertoire of herbs are and the possibilities that come when we expand our selection beyond what's just available at the grocery store. 

In this episode of Climate Cuisine, Clarissa chats with:

• Reina Gascon-Lopez, a chef and food blogger behind The Sofrito Project

• Andrea Nguyen, a writer and award-winning cookbook author

Highlights for the episode:

Annual Plants And Their Tropical Counterparts

• Having spent a few weeks on a permaculture farm in Costa Rica, Clarissa shares with listeners some patterns she discovered about tropical plants. 

• For example, annual plants she grew up with in Los Angeles, like cilantro and oregano, have tropical counterparts. Even though it looks nothing like cilantro, culantro tastes exactly like it. 

What Is Culantro?

• Clarissa describes culantro for those who’ve never heard of it. 

• Originating from the tropical parts of Latin America, this herb has medicinal value in many cultures, having been used to treat ailments from fever to even scorpion stings.

• Not only is culantro a biennial plant, but it is also relatively pest- and disease-free. 

How Reina Cooks with Culantro

• Reina shares her favorite ways to cook with culantro, such as in sofrito. Although, she warns that if you’re not a fan of cilantro you won’t be a fan of culantro.

Culantro in the US

• Although not commonly found in the US, Reina observes that increasing open mindedness towards new cuisines could be the catalyst for more culantro consumption. 

• Reina also notes, with concern, that climate change has made some places in the US hot enough to grow culantro well.  

The Downside to Culantro

• If there is one pain point to culantro, however, it’s the serrated edges of the leaves that have garnered it the nickname “sawtooth cilantro.” Reina gives pointers on preparing it.

Cilantro Notes in Vietnamese Cooking

• Andrea informs Clarissa that culantro is not typically seen in Vietnamese cooking outside of its occasional appearance as a garnish for pho. That said, it is still one of the three sources of cilantro notes, the other two being cilantro itself and rau ram, also known as Vietnamese cilantro or hot mint.

How Colonization and Globalization Affect Our Palates

• Clarissa explains that because of colonization, even though culantro grows much better in Taiwan’s climate than does cilantro, the latter is still the preferred aromatic.

• Using Vietnamese immigrants’ adaptation to different types of shiso and sorrel, Andrea illustrates how forces of globalization can affect what herbs we seek and come to eat.

Expanding the Way You Think About Herbs

• Andrea is a proponent for not thinking of herbs in a narrow-minded way. She encourages listeners to look at what’s growing around them that can add flavor—and important phytochemicals—to their diets. 

• Clarissa provides the example of Toona sinensis, or Chinese mahogany. In Taiwan, its leaves are used to flavor protein. Yet in the US, it is mostly used as an ornamental tree.