Papalo, Herb to Know

Papalo, Herb to Know

Recently I've been working on a couple of magazine assignments about the hot new herbs and plants for restaurants. My research started with new restaurant trends on-line, then I've been concentrating on interviews with chefs around the country. Not surprisingly, locally sourced produce is even bigger this year than last, new introductions of non-wheat pasta and noodles, sustainable seafood and children's menus in upscale restaurants are a few of the items.

Papalo, growing on mature plant.

One hot new herb that surprised me a bit for this year is papalo (Porophyllum macrocephalum), sometimes commonly dubbed "Buzzard's Breath" (although I'm guessing there won't be any chefs across the U.S. who will use that name; let's see, how might that sound on a menu..... farm-raised pork cemitas with seasonal chilies and buzzard's breath sauce...)

Used like cilantro in Bolivia, where my original seed start came from, as well in some states in Mexico, it's easy to see (or smell) why it got dubbed buzzard's breath. Just getting near the plant you'll get a whiff of something akin to aluminum with lemony overtones with some rue and other smells thrown in. That's on the mature plant, which isn't the stage of the plant normally used. The flavor has been described as something like a combination of arugula, mint and cilantro, although that doesn't quite describe it, either. The flavor is unique to the plant.

Cemitas, a Mexican sandwich.

Papalo is also commonly eaten raw on cemitas - sometimes known as a cemita poblana, which is a Mexican sandwich and street food that originated in the city of Puebla. Papalo is also sometimes found in guacamole and in Mexico it is used fresh in soups and stews. In Bolivia native Quechua people call it Killi and eat it daily just torn up onto foods. (If you use the search button on my blog for papalo, to the right, you can find more that I've written about this interesting herb).

Papalo sold as young, pulled seedlings in Acalpulco markets.

Papalo is showing up in gardens from California to New York City, and in markets with large Hispanic populations. However, a lot of Hispanics from other parts of Mexico or South America may not know the plant at all. I found it in the markets in Acalpulco when I visited there a few years back and admit I didn't understand the plant at all until then. I'd always let mine get to 3 or 4 feet tall and found the flavor of the leaves unpleasant. But in the markets of Acalpulco I discovered it was being grown as seedlings, the whole plant pulled up at about 12 to 15 inches tall, and the flavor of the plant was vastly better than from the mature plant.

Vendor in Mexico selling papalo.

Even though regular cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) is used extensively in Mexican cooking, that herb is not native to anywhere in the Americas (it is native to the eastern Mediterranean). But Papalo is native to the Americas and can be found growing wild from Bolivia northward as far as the southern U.S.

Here's a simple recipe to try when you're learning the flavors of this ancient herb. It's a simple green sauce and if you travel in Mexico, you may encounter the sauce used on eggs, sandwiches or other dishes.

8 green tomatillos, diced
1 green onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, whole
1 serrano or jalapeno chile, stem and seeds removed
4 or 5 fresh papalo leaves
1 large or 2 small avocados, diced
2 teaspoons olive oil

In a small skillet, combine the oil, tomatillos, onion, garlic and chile and simmer on medium heat until the tomatillos are soft, about 10 minutes.
Pour the ingredients into a food processor, along with the papalo leaves (I sometimes add juice of 1/2 lime, too) and pulse blend until everything is chunky-smooth.
Pour into a bowl and add the diced avocado. Let stand for about 30 minutes for flavors to blend well. Serve with chips or as a sauce on your favorite morning egg dish.

The following companies offer papalo seed:
Nichols Garden Nursery
Southern Exposure Seeds
Johnny's Selected Seeds

Indian Museum Top of the Rock

I find it quite amazing that we down here in the woods have a first-class museum of Native American artifacts just 20 minutes drive from home. Situated at Top of the Rock resort - known for the nationally-famous Legends of Golf tournaments, this world-class museum is underneath the Top of the Rock restaurant. (The restaurant is quite pricey, but the view from it is spectacular and the food is worth the price)

My Native American friend, Olee, when he visited the museum a year or so ago, spoke to one of the docents and mentioned it is disrespectful to display ceremonial pipes (aka "peace pipes") with the stem attached to the pipe. The docent said the curator was coming and they had already been told by others their display needed to be corrected - there are hundreds of pipes in the collections. Olee also noted in Indian tradition, wrongly displaying the sacred pipe would bring bad luck. "Really?" the docent said. "Is that true?"

Olee grinned and said one only needed to look outside the museum for the answer.
What is there, you may wonder? This, a 100 feet deep sinkhole that opened up in the golf course soon after the museum opened.

On the far side you can see the giant earth moving equipment. As of last fall they had excavated over 80,000 truckloads of soil out of the bottom of the pit, hoping to connect it to the existing cave on the property - which has a bar and grill inside it. Where the equipment sits will soon become a 4 story hotel, with trails that go down into the sinkhole.

So what's in the museum, you may wonder? Johnny Morris, the owner of Bass Pro Shops and Top of the Rock, has purchased some of the most spectacular collections of Native American artifacts and art anywhere. We walked for 2 hours and didn't nearly see it all. And I was pleased to see how much the collection focuses on Missouri. While there are artifacts from other states, all parts of our state are well represented.

The displays are well done, well lighted and most things are identified.

Fish hooks, awls.

Spectacular examples of animal effigy pots from pre-Columbian periods and Mississipian culture are numerous.

One of the most beautiful mortar and pestles I've ever seen. There are hundreds, in different styles.

Polished pieces, along with a beautiful small statue and miscellaneous pieces.

Thousands of arrow points of all sizes will astound you!

Also in the museum are cave bear skeletons, dioramas, good explanations of animals that lived in the U.S., like the Terror Bird, which is an ancestor of the ostrich, but much bigger and meaner - shown tearing a horse apart.

This is just a minimalist sampling, there is so much to see it will take several trips to view it all. There is a section, quite large, devoted to beadwork and clothing, some quite spectacular, another area devoted to the Civil War, cannon and more that we didn't even get to.

Top of the Rock is next to Big Cedar, 9 miles south of Branson, at the intersection of Hwy 65 and Hwy 86. The charge to park is $10, which is refundable toward your purchase your ticket to the museum ($25).

Papalo, Herb to Know

Recently I've been working on a couple of magazine assignments about the hot new herbs and plants for 2014 for restaurants. My research started with new restaurant trends on-line, then I've been concentrating on interviews with chefs around the country. Not surprisingly, locally sourced produce is even bigger this year than last, new introductions of non-wheat pasta and noodles, sustainable seafood and children's menus in upscale restaurants are a few of the items.

Papalo, growing on mature plant.

One hot new herb that surprised me a bit for this year is papalo (Porophyllum macrocephalum), sometimes commonly dubbed "Buzzard's Breath" (although I'm guessing there won't be any chefs across the U.S. who will use that name; let's see, how might that sound on a menu..... farm-raised pork cemitas with seasonal chilies and buzzard's breath sauce...)

Used like cilantro in Bolivia, where my original seed start came from, as well in some states in Mexico, it's easy to see (or smell) why it got dubbed buzzard's breath. Just getting near the plant you'll get a whiff of something akin to aluminum with lemony overtones with some rue and other smells thrown in. That's on the mature plant, which isn't the stage of the plant normally used. The flavor has been described as something like a combination of arugula, mint and cilantro, although that doesn't quite describe it, either. The flavor is unique to the plant.

Cemitas, a Mexican sandwich.

Papalo is also commonly eaten raw on cemitas - sometimes known as a cemita poblana, which is a Mexican sandwich and street food that originated in the city of Puebla. Papalo is also sometimes found in guacamole and in Mexico it is used fresh in soups and stews. In Bolivia native Quechua people call it Killi and eat it daily just torn up onto foods. (If you use the search button on my blog for papalo, to the right, you can find more that I've written about this interesting herb).

Papalo sold as young, pulled seedlings in Acalpulco markets.

Papalo is showing up in gardens from California to New York City, and in markets with large Hispanic populations. However, a lot of Hispanics from other parts of Mexico or South America may not know the plant at all. I found it in the markets in Acalpulco when I visited there a few years back and admit I didn't understand the plant at all until then. I'd always let mine get to 3 or 4 feet tall and found the flavor of the leaves unpleasant. But in the markets of Acalpulco I discovered it was being grown as seedlings, the whole plant pulled up at about 12 to 15 inches tall, and the flavor of the plant was vastly better than from the mature plant.

Vendor in Mexico selling papalo.

Even though regular cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) is used extensively in Mexican cooking, that herb is not native to anywhere in the Americas (it is native to the eastern Mediterranean). But Papalo is native to the Americas and can be found growing wild from Bolivia northward as far as the southern U.S.

Here's a simple recipe to try when you're learning the flavors of this ancient herb. It's a simple green sauce and if you travel in Mexico, you may encounter the sauce used on eggs, sandwiches or other dishes.

8 green tomatillos, diced
1 green onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, whole
1 serrano or jalapeno chile, stem and seeds removed
4 or 5 fresh papalo leaves
1 large or 2 small avocados, diced
2 teaspoons olive oil

In a small skillet, combine the oil, tomatillos, onion, garlic and chile and simmer on medium heat until the tomatillos are soft, about 10 minutes.
Pour the ingredients into a food processor, along with the papalo leaves (I sometimes add juice of 1/2 lime, too) and pulse blend until everything is chunky-smooth.
Pour into a bowl and add the diced avocado. Let stand for about 30 minutes for flavors to blend well. Serve with chips or as a sauce on your favorite morning egg dish.

The following companies offer papalo seed:
Nichols Garden Nursery
Southern Exposure Seeds
Johnny's Selected Seeds

Trinidad Scorpion Pepper

For many years I've been growing what was the World's Hottest Pepper, the Bhut Jolokia, or Ghost Pepper. In my book, Make Your Own Hot Sauce, I give some background of the pepper and offer a few recipes in using it in hot sauce. This year for the first time, I'm growing the current record holder for the world's hottest pepper, the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion. Later today I'll be making a batch of hot sauce with both of these peppers.

The two world's hottest peppers.

Depending on the source (I accept the New Mexico State University Chili Pepper Institute's measurements) the heat, measured in Schoville Heat Units, or SHU, can vary slightly. They rate the Ghost pepper at 330,000 to 1,023,310 SHUs. The new record holder, the Scorpion, weighs in at 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 SHUs.

In other words, it's pretty darned hot! So you may wonder, why would anyone want peppers that hot? Well, for the guys (and it IS a guy thing) who crossed the ghost pepper with a Red Savina habanero pepper and came up with the Scorpion, it means bragging rights. It also means they can license seed companies to sell their seed, and make a profit. But beyond that, believe it or not, these intensely hot peppers, have flavor, as well. Flavors not necessarily found in other peppers. And you don't eat them raw, or you shouldn't because it can be dangerous. But if you mix them with other kinds of peppers and ingredients, you get the flavor and not as much of the heat. To give an idea of where this heat comes on the giant pepper heat scale, keep in mind the Scorpion comes in at between one million and half and two million heat units. For comparison, look at the Jalapeño and Cayenne listing, below.

A Jalapeño pepper is rated at 3,500 to 8,000 SHUs. And my favorite for roasting and eating, the Poblano, is almost without heat, with 1,000 to 2,500 SHUs.

But if I combine some roasted Poblanos, a few Jalapeños, onions, garlic, vinegar, cilantro and a couple of Ghost peppers and a Scorpion, it will be a tasty hot sauce for just about anything I put it on. I'm getting ready to do a program on making hot sauce for the Ozarks Area Community Congress coming up next weekend and we'll have some tasting of my different sauces. This one I'll probably name, Two Ghosts and a Scorpion.

Various hot sauces I've made so far.

Some Help for PTSD Sufferers

Soldiers Suffering from PTSD Have a New Champion!

There’s plenty of evidence for the usefulness of alternative therapies in treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). High among those useful therapies, based on years of reports from our customers, are sleep pillows, also known as dream pillows. Laugh, scoff or ridicule as you wish. but this method has helped thousands of people over the years.

I began writing about dream pillows and their effects over 25 years ago. You can read my experiences and what convinced me, by clicking here and looking through my archives. I first learned about dream/sleep pillows from a pharmacist, and you can see the formula he made for me by clicking here, then scrolling down. And if you would like to read the story of someone who helped a bunch of Vietnam vets who all suffered from flash-back nightmares, quieten their sleep, read this.

What I want most to tell you about is Elizabeth, a customer of ours who’s been buying dream pillow supplies from us, making restful sleep dream pillows and giving them away to soldiers and veterans who are suffering from PTSD. Every time she runs across someone who has a brother, father, son or spouse, who she learns is suffering from PTSD, she sends them a sleep pillow. The feedback she’s gotten, the gratitude, is simply amazing.

Because it’s a costly process to keep making and giving away sleep pillows, Elizabeth has created a non-profit group, the American Heroes Sleep Project, in order to help more soldiers and veterans. Her new website is here. Check it out, you can order a sleep pillow for yourself, or to give someone. She also has an option where you can buy one for yourself and she’ll send someone who’s suffering from PTSD a pillow also.

There’s no magic in why sleep pillows work, it’s based on how our minds process fragrances. You can read more in my book, Making Herbal Dream Pillows (Storey Publications), which you can buy from Amazon, or buy it from me on my website.

Over the 25 years I’ve been making, selling and educating people about dream pillows/sleep pillows, I have seen amazing results. From kids who have nightmares to Vietnam Vets who have flashbacks. From people who are on the stop-smoking patch (which causes nightmares in many people) to those who simply have trouble sleeping because of stress, over and over again, people tell me how helpful the pillows have been to them.

Go to the American Heroes Sleep Project and help out someone who’s suffering from PTSD. Read about their mission and what they're doing to help soldiers who are returning from combat missions with their healing. It certainly won’t hurt and for many, it is a great help.

Or maybe you are suffering from lack of sleep or night mares, or both. You will find better sleep and less nightmares using a sleep pillow. Thank you and pleasant dreams!

Mildew and Root Rot Problems in the Garden.

Powdery mildew can affect bee-balm (Monarda) as well as roses, squash and other plants.

Copyright Jim Long 2013; Ozarks Gardening

Cool, damp weather encourages a new set of problems in the garden. We’ve had rains, chilly nights, humid and cloudy days, all things which create conditions for fungus and mildew to grow. If let untreated, either of those can slow down or kill garden plants. There are some simple solutions and remedies that cost little and are effective. 

Powdery mildew is a condition you may find on squash, cucumber, melon and rose leaves. As the name implies, the leaves take on a white or gray, dusty coating. Powdery mildew starts as a small, round white spot on the leaves. In just a few days, the spot has grown to cover the entire leaf. Here’s a simple treatment that shows good results.

Mix up 1 part plain whole milk from the refrigerator with 9 parts water. Pour into a garden sprayer and spray the affected plants in early morning. Repeat the spraying twice a week until the mildew disappears. There’s lots of research showing plain milk is as effective as chemical fungicides, and it’s a whole lot cheaper and more safe. It’s also good to avoid excess fertilizer in cool, damp weather as that can encourage mildew problems, as well. 

Pepper plant suffering from root rot.

Root rot is another common problem when the weather is damp and cool. Plants appear to wilt and die for no apparent reason. Watering the plant makes the problem worse as the fungi, including Pythium, Rhizoctonia, Pytophthora and Fusarium, can be spread to other plants by water run-off. Here’s a simple treatment that costs almost nothing.

Cornmeal, worked into the soil before planting encourages the growth of beneficial bacteria that combats various fungi from growing (which is why I always recommend using agricultural cornmeal in your tomato beds in February and March). But simply sprinkling a half cup of agricultural cornmeal (or even plain, cheap cornmeal from the grocery store) around each plant is helpful. Work it into the soil around each plant to prevent root rot. For plants that are already affected, use the same method, but if the plant doesn’t show some response in about 10 days, pull up the plant and destroy it to prevent the fungus from spreading to other plants.

I haven’t tried this one, but if you have, let me know of your results: Farmers in India are using Coca Cola as a spray pesticide on crops instead of commercial pesticides, with good results. Either the sugar or the caffein (or both) seem to deter insect problems. I couldn’t find the ratio of Coke to water, but if you have tried this successfully, please let me know. 

You can find more of my stories and gardening information on my garden adventures blog,jimlongsgarden.blogspot.com. You can order my books and products from my website by clicking on this link:http://www.longcreekherbs.com. Happy Gardening!

One of my newest books is the Make Your Own Hot Sauce. Check it out on my website.

Big Flat City Park

 Copyright© Jim Long 2012
The Ozarks Mountaineer magazine

Some years ago I was traveling back and forth from Missouri down into Arkansas to the Ozark Folk Center. I gave programs there a number of times, helped with the garden and always felt a close connection to the Mountain View area.

Plaque commemorates efforts in the 1960s to upgrade the park.

Each time I drove south, I tried to take a different route to Mountain View and the Folk Center but over time my favorite route to drive was on Highway 14. There was very little traffic, the scenery wonderful and there were lots of real towns much like the ones where I grew up.

A dozen or more picnic areas dot the park.

I came to especially admire the town of Big Flat in Baxter County. Arkansas Highway 14 makes a sharp, 90 degree turn right in the middle of downtown (the town only has 105 people, according to the 2010 census) so downtown isn’t big. What made it remarkable, besides the old-style store fronts from the late 1880s, was a little roadside pavilion tucked between two stores. Nearly every time I drove past, regardless of time of day, there would be several men sitting at the tables, playing cards and visiting.

Well made, stone picnic tables abound.

Just outside of Big Flat to the north is one of the more remarkable city parks I have ever seen in a rural area. Big Flat City Park is used for weddings, family reunions, picnics, family gatherings as well as providing a welcome and beautiful rest stop for travelers. I have taken many a nap in my pickup truck, parked under the shade trees and I’ve eaten lots of picnic meals there, as well.

Small, rustic shelter for serving small groups.

Round table in smaller shelter.

 There are two large, group-sized barbecue pits on the grounds, (along with several smaller family-sized barbecue pits), a rustic outdoor kitchen/serving area and a large covered shelter for gatherings. There are smaller shelters, as well, for smaller groups’ picnics and numerous picnic tables and benches throughout the grounds.

A large shelter for big family gatherings, weddings and other events.

In looking at the park one would assume it was a WPA project from the 1930s but a plaque designates it as an Arkansas Farmers Union Green Thumb project, dedicated in 1969. A small shelter that contains the plaque, designates it the Uncle Willie Huffines Park Green Thumb Project, while an older sign out front still reads Big Flat City Park. It’s hard to tell, but my guess from the age of the stonework and the amount of stone buildings and shelters, is it was originally a WPA project with a serious renewal and update in the 1960s. Either way, it’s a unique park.

Round picnic area provides lots of seating and shade.

The picnic tables and benches are made from slabs of stone that were mined nearby. I’ve never counted the number of picnic tables, but there are a dozen or more. Little architectural features, created by the local workers, add charm to the park. The walls, posts, barbecues and everything are built of stone, but laid with thoughtfulness and attention to detail. For example, the stepping stone into one of the shelters is sandstone, with ripples for traction, obviously found in a stream where water had rippled over it for eons.

Ancient stalactites mark park entry.

The two entry posts on either side of the gateway into the park are made from large stalactites from some nearby cave. There’s a hand pump that used to bring up water from a dug well, but the park has been updated to have a drinking fountain and water from city water.

If you’re looking for a scenic drive and a delightful place for a picnic, in winter or summer, I highly recommend Big Flat City Park. It’s one of the amazing little secret places you’ll discover along less-traveled roads, and demonstrates well why Arkansas is still knows as the natural state.