Coriander, you either love it or hate it. Growing up it wasn’t part of our diet, as parsley and thyme were. I suppose when I went to live in London, and was exposed to flavours and cultures from all over the World, did I only then begin to use it, and it’s been a love affair since. There is something about that heady smell of freshly cut coriander, that conjures up images of sitting under the sun, eating with your fingers. All parts of the plant are edible, but the fresh leaves and the dried seeds are the parts most traditionally used in cooking. Coriander is common in south Asian cuisine, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean cuisine, Indian cuisine, and Chinese to name a few.
Coriander
I have been growing it now for years, and through trial and error have managed to produce it almost all year in the tunnel and outside. There are a few tricks to growing it, that it seems a lot of enthusiastic first timers get wrong. Firstly you can purchase seed for either seed production, or leaf production. If want leaf which I think most do, be careful when purchasing your seeds, especially with some of the big seed companies as they offer seeds for both and it should be in the description. Obviously if you allow a few plants go to seed, you can save the seed and have them for sowing next time, and of course for your favourite curry, or chutney. Secondly Coriander does not like to be TRANSPLANTED. It get’s stressed and rebels by going to seed prematurely, how many of you have had this problem? So either sow it in big pots, or containers early on under cover, and keep well watered, as lack of water will make it bolt too. Then if we get any Summer at all you can sow it directly outside in a well prepared bed, preferably near your back door, to enjoy the gorgeous smell. You can cut it and it will come back a few times. As I tend to use a lot of the stuff I make lots of sowings from early Spring under cover.
This year I chanced it early on in the tunnel, I mean January, and I’ve been enjoying it for the last few weeks. The plants were from saved seed from last year, and have survived with -out extra protection, at temperatures some nights, below -4° !
Flower of Coriander
My boys and I enjoyed it last night with our Swiss Chard dhal, and Tomato cous cous. Divine. There are lots of uses for Coriander, pesto stirred through warm noodles, carrot and coriander soup. I alove to stir it into greek yoghurt, with rape-seed oil,smashed garlic and a pinch of salt. Add a squeeze of lemon, lovely on all sorts of dishes.
Coriander contains many trace elements, vitamins B6, E, C, and K. Traces of iron and zinc.
