Sunday, June 28, 2020

You say cilantro...

...and I say coriander. In French, that is. Coriandre. The feuilles de coriandre (leaves) and the graines de coriandre (seeds) are called by the same name. I grow some every year with more or less success. It seems to work better in pots than it does out in the garden. This year, something, probably a bird, dug into the pot (which was out on the deck) so I had to move it into the greenhouse. The damage to the tiny seedlings was minimal.

Little coriandre (cilantro) seedlings in a big pot. I see a few weeds, too. I'll pluck them out.

The problem with coriandre is that it bolts very quickly, leaving only a tiny window of opportunity to enjoy the leaves. Even this "slow bolt" variety goes to seed faster than you'd expect. Of course, I could sow successive crops, but I usually forget to do that. Fortunately, in recent years the supermarkets have started carrying fresh coriander leaves in the packaged herb section. So we can usually get some when we want it. The stores have always had coriander seeds available in the spice section, but when our plants make their seeds, we save them.

I know some people don't like feuilles de coriandre (cilantro) at all. But we like it in many of the the Asian dishes we make.

8 comments:

  1. We call it coriander here and Household Management uses it fresh in cooking quite often.

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  2. I love cilantro. We made falafel yesterday from scratch using black eyed peas and a big bunch of fresh cilantro. Yummy!

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  3. To make things more confusing the cilantro seeds are called coriander seeds in English!

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  4. I love it, too, Betty Ann! Love it!

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  5. And I am one of those people who strongly dislikes coriander, the fresh variety, that is. It tastes like something soapy to me, brrrr ... The seeds - no problem. We call it koriander by the way. ;)

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  6. Here in the Southwest cilantro is in almost all cuisine.

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  7. andrew, it's a great herb for many dishes.

    bettyann, that sounds tasty!

    chm, yup!

    judy, :)

    elgee, I've heard other people say that it tastes soapy. I wonder if it's a genetic thing, some people taste it one way, others taste it another way?

    michael, it was very common in California as well.

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  8. I love the fragrance and taste of cilantro/coriander and it's a staple of North African cuisine, so very popular here. We have a friend who can't tolerate it and it turns out there's a severe allergy to it, as well as a sensitivity to/intolerance of the taste and smell.

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