My sister and I were so lucky as children that both our parents were wonderful cooks (although my sister was a very fussy eater!) Dad grew most of the vegetables we ate, including asparagus which we loved, and we had fruit trees – apples, pears, a peach tree (which succumbed to some sort of mildew) and a cherry which was seen off by aphids. There was mint in the garden, but that was the only herb he grew – although Mum used dried herbs and spices in many of her recipes. One herb we never encountered – and I’m not sure it was even available to buy dried, was coriander. I think the first time we were aware of it was when we visited “Indian” restaurants. Coriander is now very common, dried and fresh and also available to buy and grow in garden centres.
I love coriander – I became aware of an unknown and delicious flavour when we went out for curry, probably when I was in Manchester as a student, but it was a very long time before I identified it as coriander. I saw an article in a magazine and became fascinated by Mexican cookery – which is very popular now, but then very few people were aware of it except. Most ‘Mexican‘ cookery consisted of chili con carne came from – which of course it was, but Mexico and its neighbours have a wider wonderful and very varied cuisine! My best friend, who by then was living in the USA, sent me a fantastic Mexican cookery book and many recipes included cilantro. In those days, without the internet, dictionaries and encyclopaedias were the only recourse to find the meaning of new words. Thus it was another long time before I realised that cilantro was a herb which became a favourite flavour of mine! I really do love it, and what set me writing this was me having a fresh cilantro/coriander sandwich this evening.
Coriander is an annual herb – coriandrum sativum, which belongs to the Apiaceae family which has many members, including coriander’s many cousins, angelica, anise, asafoetida, caraway, carrot, celery, chervil, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, lovage, cow parsley, parsley, parsnip and sea holly! Good grief, what a big family and I didn’t actually know this until I looked it up! One thing I realised, was that however delicious and delightful I and many others find it, for some people it tastes utterly, utterly disgusting! It’s not that they don’t like it, it’s that it really tastes repellent to them. The reason for this unfortunate reaction to an apparently simple herb, is genetic – those who hate it and feel nauseated by it have their OR6A2 gene, which affects the smell and the taste, triggered. As I understand it, we all have this gene but it doesn’t make all people either love or hate coriander!
I have no images to share of coriander – or other herbs, so my featured image is of a salad, which knowing me does include fresh herbs.
Lois Elsden 