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From: reid@Glacier.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Coriander
Message-ID: <3462@Glacier.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 7-Feb-85 01:43:49 EST
Article-I.D.: Glacier.3462
Posted: Thu Feb  7 01:43:49 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 7-Feb-85 15:30:51 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: Stanford University, Computer Systems Lab
Lines: 44

The @i[Von Welanetz Guide to Ethnic Ingredients], by Diana and Paul von
Welanetz, Houghton Mifflin, 1982, has a 4-page article about coriander.  To
avoid violating the copyright law, I shall not quote the whole article here,
but let me quote enough to convince you that every fanatical cook would
enjoy owning a copy of this excellent book.

"CORIANDER. Often referred to as Cilantro. Known also as Chinese or Japanese
Parsley. In Chinese known as "yuen sai", in Indian [Hindi, I presume?] as
"dhania sabz", and in Thai as "pak chee". [the book lists 22 other
languages, but most of the words are cognates of the Latin Coriandrum]

Fresh coriander is an herb and coriander seeds are a spice. They differ
greatly in flavor and use...In Asian cooking, all parts of this plant are
used....this is an acquired taste; the uninitiated often remark that it tastes
like hand soap....

Coriander seeds (actually a misnomer, as they are the fruit of the plant)
taste nothing at all like fresh coriander, but have a delightful aroma,
reminiscent of lemon and caraway. They are yellow-orange, almost round, and
are available either whole or ground. If the seeds are fresh, they can be
planted, watered daily, and will soon sprout fresh coriander."

The article also lists about 30 ethnic dishes from 20 countries that use
coriander leaves, roots, and seeds in various interesting ways. Also
mentions that in "Indian" (Hindi?), Burmese, Malaysian, Arabic, and Thai
there are entirely different words for coriander seeds than the words for
coriander leaves.

This wonderful 730-page book also has 10 pages of recommendations for ethnic
cookbooks (not an exhaustive list, but personal recommendations), and 20
pages of listings of stores mail-order sources for these ingredients,
including the only known mail-order source for dried fennel sticks and a
lament that African ingredients like Efo, Shatta, and Berbere (the essential
spice of Ethiopian cuisine) are not available by mail order in North America.

This book has contained the answer to every ingredient question that I have
seen asked on net.cooks in the 2 years I've been reading it, and it also
mentions that if you are cooking a North African recipe and come across an
instruction to use a cigarette tin full of cassava paste, that they are most
likely talking about a Player's #3 Cigarette tin, which is much more common
in North Africa than measuring cups, and that it equals approximately 1 cup.
-- 
	Brian Reid	decwrl!glacier!reid
	Stanford	reid@SU-Glacier.ARPA