Purslane (verdolagas): what it is, taste and how to cook it

What is it?

Purslane (verdolagas, Portulaca oleracea) is a succulent quelite of Mexican cuisine, with small fleshy oval leaves, juicy reddish stems and a slightly tangy and refreshing flavour reminiscent of lemon. It belongs to the Portulacaceae family and is an annual succulent plant that grows wild in milpas, backyards, gardens and disturbed soils across almost all of Mexico, with greater consumption in the centre of the country: the State of Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Hidalgo, Guerrero and Oaxaca. Its most emblematic preparation is the stew of purslane with pork in green salsa, considered one of the classic dishes of Mexican peasant cuisine. It is also eaten in quesadillas, tacos, soups, cheese fritters, raw salads and scrambled eggs. It is a pre-Hispanic quelite that remains fully current on the contemporary table.

Origin and history

Purslane has a cosmopolitan distribution and there is debate as to whether it is native to North Africa, Asia or America; however, its presence and consumption in Mesoamerica predate the conquest and are fully integrated into the indigenous recipe book. Fray Bernardino de Sahagún recorded it in the Florentine Codex under the Nahuatl name 'itzmiquilitl', which means 'flint-like quelite' because of its shiny leaves. CONABIO documents its wild presence since ancient times throughout Mexico. Larousse Cocina records it as a basic quelite of the traditional recipe book. The peoples of the Mexican Altiplano ate it as an everyday part of the diet, making use of its spontaneous growth in the milpas during the rainy season. After the conquest, purslane was integrated into the syncretic cuisine where the stew with pork (an animal introduced by the Spanish) in green salsa of tomatillo and chilli (pre-Hispanic ingredients) gave rise to the emblematic dish. Purslane is also eaten in Mediterranean cuisine (soup and salads in Greece, Turkey and North Africa), which suggests a multiple domestication.

Characteristic ingredients

Purslane is an annual creeping plant, up to 30 cm in spread, with cylindrical succulent reddish stems and small spatulate shiny green leaves. The flowers are yellow, small and open in the sun. It grows in poor, disturbed and sunny soils. It is one of the vegetables with the highest content of omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid) among land plants, according to multiple nutritional studies. It also provides vitamin C, vitamin A, magnesium, potassium, calcium and antioxidants such as beta-carotenes and glutathione. The flavour is slightly tangy because of its oxalic acid content and a mineral saline touch. It is eaten raw in salads or cooked in stews. The classic stew is made by cooking pork with salt, water and spices until browned, then adding the boiled purslane and bathing it in green salsa of tomatillo, serrano chilli, garlic and coriander. It is harvested tender; plants in flower have more fibrous stems and the young ones are preferred. It is eaten fresh and does not keep well for more than a few days under refrigeration.

Cultural significance

Purslane represents a very democratic quelite of Mexican cuisine. Its consumption remains current throughout central Mexico and forms part of the everyday home recipe book of villages and working-class neighbourhoods. Pork with purslane in green salsa is one of the classic dishes of Mexican cuisine, present in fondas, markets and family tables. SADER recognises purslane among the priority quelites for the revival of agrobiodiversity and the promotion of the traditional diet. Larousse Cocina mentions it as an example of the 'weeds' that are in fact nutritional treasures. Its exceptional nutritional profile, particularly its omega-3 ALA content, has aroused international academic interest, and the FAO considers it a crop of the future. It forms part of the traditional Mexican cuisine declared Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010. Its affordable price and spontaneous growth make it an important subsistence food in rural communities. It constitutes a food bridge between the pre-Hispanic diet and the table of today.

Frequently asked questions