Papalo anyone?

Intrigued by the description of papalo in a seed catalog, I ordered a packet. Papalo is native to the warmer regions of the Americas. Although we don't have many of them the plants are doing rather well now. I like its strong unique taste (the younger leaves are much better), but as I found out I'm the only one in my family who does. Reports from adventurous u-pickers are rather mixed. Some like it, others don't. We have a well-traveled bunch of shareholders, so if you have any papalo stories, or tips on how to use it, or even a recipe or two, please add a comment to this post.

For some very basic information on papalo, go here. One of the main things to keep in mind is that papalo is not cooked. Its leaves are used fresh or added to cooked meals right at the end.

We will be bringing samples of it to shareholders. Whether or not we will grow it next year depends on the feedback we get from you.

Comments

[Sara Anne Corrigan]

OK I grew the stuff that looks like what you have photographed above. It is the most vile thing I have ever put in my mouth!!!!

There seems to be some confusion between papalo known also as "papaloquelite" and papalo also known as "pepicha" the latter being the one I HATE.
Photos show two very different-lookibng plants.

Latin nomenclature is of no help as both plants appear to have the same name.

What gives????

[Kolya]

Hi, Sara. The one we have is "papalo" which is also known as "papaloquelite". I don't know about "pepicha". It could well be a different plant or it could be another regional name for the same one. It can be confusing since it's not only the case that sometimes the same plant is called differently in another region. The reverse also happens: sometimes different regions use the same name for different plants.

[Sara Anne Corrigan]

I have learned some more: Porophyllum ruderale is the plant pictured above that I find so highly objectionable.
There is another plant, porophyllum tagetoides, aka pepicha that looks kind of like tarragon (grassy and wispy) and also is touted to taste like cilantro.
Of course I can find no one who sells the seeds.... drat.
My goal, since the beginning of this search, is to find a cilantro substitute that does not bolt in hot weather... I'll keep looking...

[Kolya]

Sara,

If you end up getting the pepicha seeds, please let us know. I would love to try it too. I doubt we'll grow the papalo next year. Now that we had more tasters I can report that a few like it, but the vast majority doesn't.

[Carrie Cochran Vaughn]

Our Johnnys catalog (www.johnnyseeds.com) includes seeds for an herb they call "culantro," which they also identify as "spiny coriander", "ngo gai" and "recao". It's supposed to grow well in the summer under shady conditions and have the flaver of cilantro. It sounds like something you might want to try.

[sonia]

papalo is the one in the picture, green leaves, soft and delicious,

pepicha is the one that tastes like cilantro, i love them, i know many other plants from where i am from but, i don't have the scientific names,
any ? email me,

[John Hartt]

Sara,

Last year I found some Vietnamese Coriander and thought is was a great substitute for cilantro. It lasted the whole warm season. I used it a lot in fresh salsa. The Papalo works great too, but the taste is a little...off. I tried culantra and didn't work well at all, but have heard it is nice in chili and bean dishes.

Sincerely,
John

[Erica Olmsted]

Hi all,
We got the garlic last week and it was so moist. Delicious of course but I am wondering if we are supposed to store the new, moist garlic different from the dried variety that I usually come across.

Thx

[pamela]

porophyllum tagetoides also known as chepiche is wonderful. It is very different in look from the papalo pictured above, more wispy in appearance. I ate some in salsa in Acapulco. I'd love to find a seed source.

[Susan Kroll]

Where did you get the papalo seeds? My husband is a fabulous cook from Mexico City and we have a wonderful garden - all we need is to find out where we can get papalo seeds.
Thank you for your help with this!
Susana y Sergio

[Edith]

My english isn't the best, but hoppe you can understand my info.
Pápalo mean "in direction to butterfly place", come from papalotl=butterfly. In this direction you can find a recept (in spanish)
http://www.oncetv-ipn.net/rincon/nuevo/menu41_b.htm.
The use of this plant is very normal when you eat tacos, you pun in inside like a lettuce (don't put a lot), or use like garden cress. If I find other recept, I will try to traslate it and will put here.

[Dennisse]

I grew up eating papalo. The best way to eat it is raw, with your everyday meal... in sandwiches or in tortas (Mexican sandwiches)...

[Rodrigo]

Papalo is called quirquiña in Bolivia. It is eaten in a simple salsa called "llajwa", made of tomatoes, hot chili peppers, quirquiña and salt. The herb makes all the difference in the salsa, which is used in soups, sandwiches, as a sauce, etc. Bolivians put llajwa in almost everything. I’ll run to the closest Mexican market to see if they have papalo (and if it is really like quirquiña).

[Greta]

I'm looking for papalo and pichalo (chepiche) seeds, too, and looks like these nurseries have papalo seeds:
Nichols Garden Nursery (oregon)
magicgardenseeds.com
ecoseeds.com
Johnny's Selected Seeds
sandhillpreservation.com

[Greta]

magicgardenseeds is in Bavaria, but prices are in U.S. dollars.

The papalo at ecoseeds.com is described as long-leaved, so it may be quepiche (Porophyllum tagetoides).

[Ed Pepe]

I came to love papalo in Puebla, Mexico where it is used as the crowning touch on a huge overstuffed sandwich called a cemita (cheese, avacado, chiles and either breaded pork or Mexican barbacoa.
But papalo is definitely one of those love it or hate it foods. Some of my friends can't even stand the smell of it, let alone the taste. Their loss!

[colleen Cook]

I found papalo this year at the farmers market. It is divine, smells like cilantro and citrus. I used it to make fresh mango salsa and on tacos.