Culantro

My boyfriend is Puerto Rican and I am trying to learn how to cook different dishes from there. I want to make sofrito and all his family's recipes call for culanto (similar to, but not, cilantro). I have been to Value Market in Iroquios Manor and a number of Mexican "groceries" (Mexican food and Puerto Rican food is not the smae at all!) to no avail. Anyone seen it around here or am I going to have to grow it this summer??? LOL!

i am Mexican AND Puerto Rican! unfortunately, i cannot find culantro anywhere here. But my Puerto Rican grandmother and mother always made it with cilantro, my grandmother also used ajices dulce but you cannot find those here.

i make my sofrito with onions, green pepper, garlic, and cilantro, add water or olive oil to let it blend together in the blender. I make it in HUGE batches and then freeze some of it, but honestly it doesnt last long in my house because i use it so much.

and you are definitely right..... Mexican cooking and Puerto Rican cooking are soooo different. But, i was blessed, i grew up in a Mexican area, with a Puerto Rican mom..... best of both worlds if you ask me.....

John Hagan (forum member), owner of Mt. Eden Greenhouse, grows it.

http://www.bardstownroadfarmersmarket.com/content/745

I know he is growing greens during the winter, so you might check to see if he'll grow you some culantro. I think it tastes exactly like cilantro.

[Robin Garr]

Here's a sweet little Web page that in a very few words - and two pictures - leaves no doubt about the difference.

http://www.caribbeanseeds.com/cilantro-culantro.htm

I sure thought I had seen culantro at Valu Market, but maybe it's an occasional product? It's said to be preferred for Caribbean regions because cilantro - which "bolts" easily - doesn't do well in a tropical climate.

[Robin Garr]

I just noticed on that page I referenced a list of alternative names from different cultures.

Maybe ask for ngo gai at one of the many South End Vietnamese groceries?

Justin was right, we do grow culantro. We normally have it all season,April through October, and sell it as a small living plant. We grow it for the same reason Robin stated,it does not bolt as quickly as cilantro does in our hot summers. Also like Robin mentioned I have seen it at Value Market(the one by VK). I have seen it sold under the name "spiny cilantro".

They serve it with the Pho instead of cilantro at Pho Binh Mihn. I can ask him where they get theirs today when take my lunch there.

Thanks everyone! John, I am quite interested in your greenhouse - do you have a retail location or are you only at the farmer's market? Becky, I had done a lot of online research as well and went ahead and made it with all cilantro. Experimenting this time around, I used piquillo peppers because of the Spanish influences in Puerto Rican cooking. My boyfriend tasted the sofrito and declared it pretty darn close! Robin, I think I might try your suggestion of asking at some of the Asian shops. I have to say that I am almost always disappointed in the Latin groceries that are around. No offense to anyone, but most carry such a small selection of atypical food items and so many other "things" that half the time I leave wondering if they aren't fronts for something else! Do we have a really good Latin grocery in this area?? Dan, awesome! Thanks!

[Robin Garr]

Do we have a really good Latin grocery in this area?? Dan, awesome! Thanks!

Carolyne, I've only looked at it briefly, but there's one in the same shopping center as Dakshin and the Gordita Trailer (Eastland, on Bardstown at Watterson Trail, just out from Breckinridge) that has the advantage of being relatively large - at least older A&P style, more than just a storefront. I'm sorry I can't really testify to the breadth or diversity of produce, but it clearly had more inventory than most of the small Latino groceries around.

Carolyne, I've only looked at it briefly, but there's one in the same shopping center as Dakshin and the Gordita Trailer (Eastland, on Bardstown at Watterson Trail, just out from Breckinridge) that has the advantage of being relatively large - at least older A&P style, more than just a storefront. I'm sorry I can't really testify to the breadth or diversity of produce, but it clearly had more inventory than most of the small Latino groceries around.

Mi Preferida. The folks in there are wonderful. Fantastic fresh tortillas, fresh tortilla chips and salsa to go. On Sundays they sell carnitas but sell out quickly.

Thanks everyone! John, I am quite interested in your greenhouse - do you have a retail location or are you only at the farmer's market?

Hi, thanks for your interest. Yes we do have a retail store. We are located in the middle of nowhere,2986 Van Buren rd(hwy 636)Mt Eden KY,502-738-5502.Open March through Halloween,but you can still find us in the greenhouses all year. Thats right on the border of Shelby and Spencer county, right by Taylorsville Lake State Park. Its about a 45 min drive from downtown Louisville. We have 4 30x100' greenhouses and a couple of shade houses. We sell only what we grow,we never buy in plant materiel. Our main crops are hanging baskets,annual flats,perennials,herbs,vegetable transplants, specialty succulents and now hydroponic lettuce and micro greens. Pretty much everything but trees and shrubs(thats for a nursery). In addition to our plants we also sell "bulk" garden seed. Not many places do this anymore,but our customers like the ability to buy just the amount they need, be it a tablespoon of tomato seeds or fifty pounds of corn seed. In the spring we also have seed potatoes,onion sets,rhubarb and horseradish roots, asparagus starts etc. Our small store carries a basic line of garden supplies with a leaning toward organic and natural products. Were trying to get a website out soon,but our speed in doing that can best be described as tectonic
Otherwise check us out at St Matthews farmers market,Phoenix Hill market,Bardstown rd market and were thinking of trying out the new Douglas loop market this year.

Robin,if Im out of line dropping this plug feel free to delete,no harm no foul.

[Robin Garr]

Robin,if Im out of line dropping this plug feel free to delete,no harm no foul.

Nah, thanks for asking, but you were responding to a direct question with a helpful, non-hype response. What's more, by contributing to the forum substantially as a regular, you've earned the right to an occasional plug. And we're satisfied customers, so I know you're not lyin'.

John ~ Sounds awesome! I think a Spring trip is in the offing! Robin ~ my daughter used to live off Watterson Trail and I had noticed the place in Eastland and wondered. I might make a trip out that way and check them out. Anyone hear about a Puerto Rican restaurant in southern Indiana???

[Robin Garr]

Anyone hear about a Puerto Rican restaurant in southern Indiana???

Carolyne, maybe the short-lived Buenos Dias Cafe? It was up where Jeff runs into Sellersburg. It was a natural mix of Mexico, Honduras and Puerto Rico, representing the owner's mixed family with dishes from all three cultures.

I loved, loved, loved that little place, but alas, I guess the demographics were way wrong, and it didn't make it through its first year.

I stopped in Mi Preferida in the Eastland Center today. Their new enlarged store is bright, neat and very spacious. They had never heard of culantro.