You Say Cilantro, I say Culantro...

Q - What in the heck is culantro? Is it a mispronunciation of cilantro or something completely different?

A - OK, you caught me! I asked that question myself. Why? Cause I ran across culantro for the first time a few weeks ago, and wanted to share my new knowledge with the world. At least with the very small world composed of people who read my blog.

My encounter with culantro happened at Pho Dang, a new Vietnamese cafe in Winooski. My bowl of beefy pho arrived accompanied by a selection of herbs meant to be torn up and stirred into the broth. Mint, cilantro and Thai basil were recognizable, but there was one herb, with long serrated leaves, that I'd never, ever seen before. I can't remember the last time that happened!

So I did a little research. Culantro (or ngo gai, in Vietnamese), as is evident by the pungent aroma, is closely related to cilantro.  It is native to the Caribbean and tropical regions of the Americas, and is a popular kitchen herb in the aforementioned regions, as well as in Southeast Asia.

Despite that, I was unable to find a single recipe calling for it in any of my regional cookbooks. To make matters worse, a book on Mayan cooking and another on the cuisines of the Caribbean said that cilantro and culantro are the same thing. The only tome that differentiates is The Essential Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy. But even then, it doesn't actually call for the stuff.

Since my old-fashioned, paper books weren't helping, I turned to the web. If you're able to find culantro at an Asian or other ethnic market, here are a few uses...

1) Black beans and rice with culantro chimichurri, from the Cooking Diva Blog.
2) Pho Bo, from About.com. It's a Vietnamese recipe, even though it's on a Chinese cooking page.
3) Linguine and lobster caribe, on the Food Network's Site.

The picture, by the way, is from a very informative, yet rather dry horticulture website at Perdue.

Comments

[Molly]

That's so interesting. Where are the folks at Pho Dang getting such an obscure item? Do they grow their own?

[melissa]

Hola from Panama! Thank you for the link...Culantro is really a very unique and intense herb. Here it grows like weed! Have a tasty week...

[Peter]

I live in Miami and get it at the local supermarket. The first time I had it was in Trinidad where they call it shadow bennie, (chadon bene, shadom bennie, Latin - Eryngium foetidum). I like it a lot better than cilantro.

[Suzanne]

Melissa -- Thanks! Do you work for the Gilded Fork? I was pretty sure I recognized you from their site. I used to write for them, too.

Peter -- Nice to meet you! Culantro isn't easy to find up here, but we do have a few ethnic stores in my neighborhood, so I'm going to see if I can locate any. Thanks for providing some of the other nicknames as well as the Latin name! Linnaeus, the famous botanist who named it, may not have thought much of the herb, since he referred to it as "fetid!"

If you have any recipes to share, feel free to post them!

[James Inkyo]

If you're still looking for recipes for culantro try Puerto Rican recipes as I have found quite a few. From what I can tell one of the most popular uses for culantro is in Puerto Rican "Sofrito". Also, if you're looking for seeds to try and grow some yourself try Caribbeanseeds.com I bought 2 packets of seeds from them and am currently growing several plants in my balcony (I live in an apartment) "garden".

[Mike]

I grew up with Puerto Rican cooking.
There a difference between culantro and cilantro.
Yes, they sound similar, but don't be fooled ... they should not be substituted.
Culantro has a unique flavor/aroma that cilantro will not deliver.

[suzanne]

Thanks Mike! I still haven't been able to find fresh culantro around here. The times I tried it at Pho Dang, I did find the aroma and flavor to be quite unique. We now have a new Vietnamese restaurant in the area...I wonder if they'll be using it, too.

[A Brit]

You know you really should be calling it Coriander ;-)

[Deidre]

Hello, I'm from Trinidad in the Caribbean (West Indies) and I have both herbs in question growing in my yard.

It is not a mispronounciation. Cilantro and Culantro are of the same family but are different herbs. A previous poster Peter, mentioned that Trinidadians call it 'Shadow Bennie' (Shadon Beni) and he is right. I am aware that throughout the Caribbean, the name used varies enormously. Americans call it Long or Mexican Coriander as well as Culantro.

I much prefer the taste of CUlantro to CIlantro though. It is used to season dishes and meat much like basil and oregano, and is a very important ingredient for 'chows' using various kinds of tropical fruits. The Caribbean use spices a lot in cooking.

http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Eryn_foe.html