Summer Coriander, Papalo, and Quillquina

Here in Australia (and a few other countries) we refer to the leaf of Coriandrum sativum as ‘coriander’, and the seeds/fruits of the same plant as ‘coriander seeds’.  In North America and a few other countries people usually refer to the leaf of this plant as ‘cilantro’ and call the seeds/fruit ‘coriander’.  For clarity, any time you see the term ‘coriander’ being used in this blog post I am referring to the leaf and/or entire plant of C sativum.

Some people hate coriander, others love it, there appear to be very few people in between.  Some people have a mutation in their OR6A2 gene, these people strongly dislike the smell of coriander leaves.  Other people do not have this mutation, these people tend to love coriander.  I am in the latter group.  I really love the smell of coriander.

Coriander is at its best when fresh, it doesn’t store or dry very well.  Small pots of hydroponically grown coriander are often found in supermarkets, they are better than nothing but usually the smell is weak and diluted.  For these reasons, to have decent coriander you must grow your own.

Coriander has a bad reputation for being finicky and difficult to grow.  It dislikes being transplanted and often bolts to flower if the roots are disturbed even if the plant is tiny.  Coriander is best used in summer meals, yet it dislikes heat and will flower within days if the temperature is too high or if the weather changes too fast.  To make matters worse, many places sell seed of ‘slow bolt’ coriander that is not slow to bolt.  To help overcome this you can plant coriander seed and only save seed from the slowest to bolt in your garden.

Most varieties of coriander are extremely inbred and display little to no genetic diversity, so improving coriander can be a long journey with frustratingly small gains.  To help overcome this I deliberately crossed about a dozen varieties from several different countries.  I had originally planned on selecting for slow bolting but am deliberately maintaining it as a genetically diverse grex so people can grow it and select for slower bolting themselves.  Grow them, eat them, enjoy them, and kill off every plant that flowers early.   With this amount of genetic diversity it won’t take long before you have a variety that you created yourself to be the most productive in your garden.

Unfortunately, there is only so much heat coriander will cope with.  When it gets hot and dry coriander bolts to flower and set seed.  Unfortunately it is when the weather is hot that I want coriander, so I am searching for coriander substitutes.  I searched the internet and was told things like parsley or thyme can be used as substitutes, which they can’t.  Parsley and thyme are not even remotely similar to coriander.

In the past I grew ‘perennial coriander’ (Eryngium foetidum) which tasted similar to real coriander but I lost it in a move and have not been able to get another.  The leaves were also a bit tough for my liking but that may have been due to the growing conditions.   I thought about getting another one, and I probably will one day, but for now I am trying something else.

Papalo underside of leaf

Papalo top of leaf

Recently I got seed for some herbs named papalo and quillquiña.  They have many common names including "Papaloquelite", "Butterfly leaf", “Bolivian coriander” and “Mexican coriander”.

Unlike true coriander, papalo and quillquiña are said to love the heat.  They never bolt to seed in hot weather.  I have seen them described as being like summer loving, strongly scented, heat resistant coriander.  That sounded like it was worth a try.

Other than overseas seed sellers and a few confused foodies on cooking/travel sites there is little information about papalo and quillquiña on the internet.

The place I bought them from lists papalo as Porophyllum coloratum and quilquiña as Porophyllum ruderale.  I am not certain that these are the correct species.

Papalo young plant

Most overseas sellers either list both as varieties of Porophyllum ruderale, or they use the term papalo and quillquiña interchangeably for the same plant.  Other people claim this is one species with a narrow leaf form (papalo) and a wide leaf form (quillquiña).

Unfortunately there is little information available, and most of it is contradictory, so I don't know.  I know they are both from the genus Porophyllum, but don’t know what species they are or if they are the same species or not.

Quillquiña seedlings - one is green the other has some purple

Quillquiña growing larger

I found one reference claiming papalo and quillquiña to be subspecies that cross pollinate easily.   This person who said this claimed one flowered early and the other late, and once the early one set seed he would remove any further flowers to prevent it crossing with the later flowering one.  I am not sure if any of this is true.

The person I got seeds from lists papalo and quillquiña as separate species.  I asked the seller if they will cross pollinate and he said he attempted to cross pollinate them by hand but has not been successful.  As far as he knows they cannot cross pollinate.

Again, I don't know if this is true or not.  All I know is that the person who sold me the seeds in as honest bloke and was answering my questions to the best of his knowledge

Papalo - also called 'butterfly leaf' because the leaves flutter in the wind

Papalo with blue green leaves

I don't know what to think and hope to learn more in the future.  This summer has been hot and dry and horrible, but my papalo has grown well.  If my plants flower this year I hope to save seed as this is not a plant I ever wish to be without.

Papalo leaves - note the oil glands

Papalo and quillquiña are often used as coriander substitute, but they taste different to coriander.  They have a strong undescribable smell and a unique taste that I love.

Papalo and quillquiña taste much like each other, but they have different shaped leaves.  They smell rather intense, and I really like them.  Now that I have tried them I almost crave them.

Many people rave about how great papalo is. Some chefs refuse to be without papalo.  I have been told that in parts of Mexico papalo is kept on restaurant tables in glass of water so people can use them to spice up their food similar to how salt and pepper are found on restaurant tables in Australia.  I can understand that, I would probably go to a restaurant if I knew they had papalo.

Some people, like me, love the intense flavour of papalo.  Other people hate these herbs with a vengeance and describe them as smelling similar to skunk urine.  I don’t know if people who have a mutation in their OR6A2 gene and hate coriander also hate papalo and quillquiña, judging from the strongly polarised reception these herbs get I am assuming so.  Then again, my son loves coriander and hates papalo so perhaps there is more to this?

I have a lot to learn about these herbs, I hope they grow well in my climate and that at least one of them is useful as a summer coriander substitute. I will always grow coriander as it is one of my favourite herbs and papalo is not an exact match, but it would be nice to have something else to grow for when the weather is too extreme for coriander to thrive.

If I am able to save enough seed in autumn I will try to offer it through my for sale page.   While I am told that they won't cross I am not certain.  They do both smell the same, so if they can cross the resultant seedlings should taste the same but have different shaped leaves.