"Culantro"

Cayman_Terry, member

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"Culantro" in raised Garden Bed

Photo: photo by Cayman Terry

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"Culantro" is a widely used herb in the Central Americas.
     I checked here on "Vegetable Gardener" and did not see anything  listed for this wonderful flavored Herb!
                                    Here is a photo of it growing in my Raised Bed. 

     If you enjoy "Cilantro" its seeds are called (Coriander) and the plant is sometimes called "Chinese Parsley". I am sure you will enjoy this culantro as well and maybe even better. I certainly do enjoy Cilantro but I find it hard to grow in the heat without the plant bolting to seed and it is so delicate.

     The culantro tastes almost exactly like Cilantro and some say it is stronger in flavor some say its aroma is  stronger and some say both. It grows well and is always around when you need it. I like to make salsas for corn chips with fresh or canned tomatoes and with all the other ingredients you need, this culantro is a must or you can use the alternative cilantro. It is not readily available here in the market so when my desire occurs, I just go to my garden. 

     Should you not be able to locate seeds for this Culantro plant through the internet, email me to see if I may have some available.
This "Culantro" is used in a lot of Tex/Mex dishes and goes as well with tomatoes just like Basil. Yet many people do not even know it exists.

Cayman Terry

taccayman@hotmail.com

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Another Great Reason to Plant Parsley

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great extended summer

Comments (3)

prigge writes: I tried to grow culantro, but it didn't much like the Northeast! It took forever to grow 2 inches and then flowered. I harvested maybe a few snips. I found out later to keep it out of the sun. For warmth, perhaps a plastic cover. It can be found at the local bodega, but would love to try it again in the garden..
Posted: 6:08 pm on April 13th

Cayman_Terry writes: Leslie
I am in the Caribbean can't get too much hotter unless I was at the equator. I am at 19 Degrees Lat., go ahead and give it a try. I agree the cilantro is much more delicate and better looking but after it is all chopped up who's looking, it is then all in the taste. Try them both! Cilantro is actually more susceptible to heat then the Culantro, that is one reason why culantro is grown more readily in the tropics. Now if you are growing to look at it in the Garden that's a different story. I grow it in the sun and located in an area that gets shady in the later part of the day, and at sunrise. It grows differently than Cilantro, Cilantro seems to mature all at the same time, where the culantro takes its time as it develops it long slender tasty leaves.
Posted: 8:35 am on October 15th

LeslieinPayson writes: I had never heard of this, and I googled it. The info I found says that, like cilantro, it doesn't like heat and tends to bolt. If that's the case I might as well grow cilantro, which is prettier.
Posted: 1:24 pm on October 14th

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