Mexican Pepicha Seed

I tried pepicha as a substitue for the short lived cilantro that I love so much, and discovered that this isn’t even close! It does have some of that near medicinal pungency cilantro has, but still, the taste is its own. It has dark green, narrow, aromatic leaves, almost a bit like tall shaggy grass. Some of the comparisons you find online go like – pine, mint, anise, citrus. There is a grain of truth in all of it, but taste is something you can only really experience, and descriptions are only a swing at the proverbial pinata. I do think that the history of this herb is as tied to culinary tradition in Mexico – this herb goes into my homemade corn tortilla fillings – as it is to herbal medicine. I had to get used to it, but this herb grew on me. In Mexican dishes, it’s awesome. The seed heads, which begin in August if you let it, look like blueberries, having that same silvery bloom over an aegean blue. The seedheads when fully opened look like dandelion heads. 2022 seed.