The Mija Chronicles

Mexican food and culture, on both sides of the border

Calling all experts: How do you cook maguey flowers?

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maguey flowers

In the past six months or so, I’ve become a little obsessed with flowering maguey.

The maguey, also known as agave, blooms when it’s mature, a process that can take anywhere from 6 to 28 years depending on the plant. Weirdly, the flowers don’t sprout from the leaves themselves — they grow on a trunk-like stalk called a quiote, which grows from the center of the plant like a tree.

Blooming maguey

Blooming maguey from UNAM's Jardín Botánico

I love the idea that a regular old agave can transform into a strange, beautiful plant-within-a-plant when it’s about to die. (It kinda starts to make me believe in the mysticism of the Aztecs. Or maybe I’ve been here too long.) I’ve started spotting flowering magueyes everywhere and taking secret pictures of them on my camera. One day I’m going to post them all for you.

Right now I wanted to ask: how much do you know about maguey flowers as a food source? I know they’re eaten here as a vegetable, when folks can find them.

A few weeks ago I spotted a package at Mercado San Juan and decided to make them as an experiment. The vendor gave me detailed cooking instructions: peel back the outer petals, remove the center stigma, and then boil or sautee in oil, garlic and onion.

I did what she said, except I decided to steam them instead of boil. Cooked ’em in a little onion and garlic and sprinkled on some sea salt.

I was expecting a revelation, like the first time I tasted izote flowers. Instead they were bitter and sort of rubbery. My friend Liz, lover of bitter vegetables, raved about them. The rest of us kinda frowned. I felt bad later that night when I dumped them into the trash. Sorry agave that took maybe six years or longer to give us your flowers. I’m totally not worthy of you.

So how do I cook these? Have you made them before? I tasted them as they cooked on the stove, and they weren’t bitter after about 3 to 5 minutes in the frying pan. But the texture was even more rubbery that way.

What did I do wrong? Maybe I didn’t peel them correctly? Or were they old? (Or not old enough?)

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Comments

  1. Here is a link that shows how to remove the leaves, which is the edible part. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnXD-q_3lFA

    They do have a unique taste and do well with onion, garlic, tomato and some green chile or a salsa verde. They do take some time in the stewing – about 20 to 30 minutes minimum for them to soften up and take up the flavors of the added ingredients.

    Don’t give up on them..

    • Thanks Ruth, that’s super helpful. Had no idea that it was 20-30 minutes. The vendor had said, “They’re just like squash flowers!” so I assumed that they didn’t need a lot of time. Then again, I had no point of context because I’ve never eaten them anywhere. Salsa verde makes everything taste good, so maybe I’ll try that if I see them again.

  2. Los Golumbos tienen temporada…y momento crítico para cosecharse y cocinarse…esta es su época pico….solamente se mezclan con otros ingredientes de la región que hayan sido cosechados como nopales, insectos o salsas de chiles meteateados y guisados…en la actualidad se usa el ajo y cebolla como casi todo en Mexico y que bien apunta Ruth, pero anteriormente se prefería sazonar esa salsa con guaje. Es muy delicado quitar la parte que amarga de la flor que es el pistilo central. La mejor forma es hervirla, o guisarla por 10 minutos a fuego alto y luego combinarla.