{"id":489,"date":"2020-01-10T21:09:49","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T21:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simplestead.com\/?p=489"},"modified":"2020-01-10T21:09:49","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T21:09:49","slug":"cilantro-and-coriander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplestead.com\/?p=489","title":{"rendered":"Cilantro and Coriander"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Is it an herb or a spice? Am I a girl or a woman? I was a girl once, but now age and experience have made me a woman. This is very much the same with cilantro and coriander. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bright green, fanning, lace like leaves with their brash, tangy, citrusy flavor and exuberant aroma are the youthful, immature stage of the plant. As the plant ages, it grows taller, more slender and elegant. Delicate umbel flowers develop and open. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it reaches the age of wisdom, those flowers give way to seeds that impart knowledge dating back thousands of years and have the power to launch thousands of new generations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coriander is the culmination. The life’s work of the cilantro plant. Its enduring legacy. Or perhaps, the coriander\/cilantro difference is just a retail device to distinguish leaves from seeds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, many cultures only have one word to describe both the leaves and the seeds of this ancient herb and spice. In the US, coriander came by way of European settlers as early as 1670. Yet, it was popularized on supermarket shelves for it’s utility in “Mexican” food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I use Mexican in quotes because the truth is much of the cuisine deemed Mexican in the US could be Peruvian, Bolivian, Salvadorian, Ecuadorian, and more. In fact, the herb you find in dishes in Latin American countries might actually be a completely unrelated herb called Culantro<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Culantro can be shade grown even in tropical climates. Though, subject to bolting as days grow long, it is a bit more durable in the heat than cool season cilantro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most incredible thing to me though isn’t why we call these plants what we call them. It’s that nearly every country on earth has at least one name for this amazing edible treasure. That’s because it is so universally recognized for its culinary utility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grow it, eat it, love it, share it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

General Knowledge and Fascinating Facts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Coriander root is also edible and delicious. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n