Loroco

Fernaldia pandurata · Edible flower

40 pairings

Loroco is the edible flower bud of a tropical Central American vine (Fernaldia pandurata), a signature ingredient of Salvadoran and Guatemalan cooking. The pale green, unopened buds carry a distinctive savoury, herbal-vegetal aroma and are folded into pupusas, tamales, rice, soups and cheese fillings.

Picking a good onedrag

Tight shut, pale green, springyOpened, yellowed, slimy and sour

Market freshFood here is the shut buds and the tender young shoots; the leaves, the vine and its milky latex are not. Warm it through in fat to open the aroma.Everyday best

The budsShut, with a tip or two just flaring greenish-white

The cluster and its stalksGreen and firm, the cut ends drying over

Smell at the clusterStill green, but you put your nose right in to find it

What to look for, from tight shut, pale green, springy to opened, yellowed, slimy and sour.

Preparing