Last week, while grocery shopping at the Superama in Polanco, I got seduced by a big bunch of huazontle.
It sat in the herb section, towering over the epazote and parsley like emerald-green heather. (Huazontle, pronounded “wan-ZONE-tlay,” is a tall, wild green native to Mexico. People here remove the rough stems, cover the buds with cheese and eat them.)
I had a vague recollection of trying huazontle once, and an even vaguer recollection that I didn’t like it. But — this plant was so pretty. I may not have liked it before, but that was when other people had cooked it. In my own kitchen, with my All Clad cookware and pantry full of vinegars and oils, I could whip the huazontle into submission and make it taste the way I liked.
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