Cilantro or Coriander?

 

What do you call it? Here in the U.S., the green leaves are called cilantro and the dry seeds are called coriander. The herb is Coriandrum sativum, an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. It is commonly used in the cuisines of China, Thailand, India, the Mediterranean basin, Europe and Mexico. Here it is an important ingredient in salsa and other Mexican dishes. All parts of the plants are used, including the leaves, stems, seeds, and roots. Some people, probably based on genetics,  find the leaves to have a soapy taste and an offensive, perfumed smell. Others love it. The seeds have an attractive citrus aroma and are used in sausages and some Belgian-style beers.

 

I try growing cilantro every year. A maddening characteristic of it is its lack of desire to germinate where I plant it, yet it self-seeds wildly wherever I don’t want it, in the paths, in the beds, wherever an errant seed lands. It also to tends to bolt quickly to seed, even if I plant slow-bolt varieties. That is why I usually wind up buying cilantro at the farm stands when I want the leaves. But the seeds are not to be spurned. When harvested green, they still have a strong cilantro aroma in addition to a lemon, citrusy scent that the leaves do not have. You can use them in cooking (just smack them with the side of a knife to crush), and the seeds freeze well so you can save a little bit of summer.

 

 

Here is another use for the green seeds I learned from Willi Galloway’s book, Grow, Cook, Eat that will warm you up in winter. Put a handful of seed clusters in a quart canning jar and pour a fifth of vodka (no need to use Skye or Grey Goose here) in the jar and cover. Allow this to sit for a week while the vodka is infused. Pour the infused vodka back into the bottle, using a funnel lined with a coffee filter to strain out any sediment. You now have a fifth of coriander-infused vodka you can use to make vodka tonics or other drinks.

 

 

Or try my signature cocktail, which my daughter declared the best cocktail she has ever tasted.

 

Dave’s Cortini

 

Add to a cocktail shaker with ice:

• 2 parts Coriander-infused Vodka
• 1 part St-Germain
• 1 or 2 dashes Fee Brothers Grapefruit bitters

Shake or stir and stain into a Martini glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon and enjoy while you pore over the seed catalogs in January.

 

 

Harvest Monday–15 July 2013

We got a break from the hot weather last week, with temperatures only in the 80s (°F), lower humidity and pleasant night time temperatures. I replanted some of the seeds that didn’t germinate (beans, squash and cucumbers) and most of them germinated quickly. Last Sunday I harvested the German Extra Hardy garlic and it is now hanging in the shed. Below  is some of the Red Chesnok, which got an extra week and was harvested on Saturday. It is now drying on the porch before being hung.

 

 

I let the cilantro go to seed (like I had anything to say about it). The bees love the flowers and eventually you get cilantro (aka coriander) seeds. If you harvest them green, they still have some of the cilantro leaf flavor but they also have a fresh citrusy taste and aroma. I got a good cup of seeds from this cutting, most of which I will freeze. Some of the fresh seeds will go into my refrigerator pickle jar, on the off chance that I actually succeed in growing some cucumbers this year. Another handful is being used to infuse some vodka for Cortinis. Got this idea from Willi Galloway’s Grow Cook Eat.  After a couple of days, the vodka has developed a sweet, candy or vanilla-like fragrance with some citrus overtones. I left some plants uncut so I get some brown, ripened seeds as well.

 

 

I picked what is probably the last of the fava beans. They are not liking the hot weather and I may remove them along with the peas to free up the bed. Some of the beans had some brown discoloration on the skins, but the brown spots were only on the skin and did not affect the bean itself. Some beans were used in a scafata of favas and chard, a good dish that did not require me to peel the beans and used up some of my chard. More beans went into a lamb tagine with favas and artichoke hearts.

 

 

The greens are about finished. Almost everything is bolting except the chard and mustard. I am getting a few heads of lettuce, mostly from volunteers or stray seeds outside the greens bed. See, it pays to be messy.. It will be a while before I get other vegetables because of all the delays in planting or poor germination, although the tomatoes and peppers are doing just fine. Tough year. Oh well, the fridge is still stuffed. My herbs are doing OK and  I need to start drying some herbs. I make a basil mix from Genovese, Siam Queen and Spicy Globe which is a lot more exotic than any purchased dried basil.

 

 

 

That’s what I harvested last week. To see what is happening in gardens around the world, please visit Daphne’s Dandelions, our host for Harvest Monday.