29 June: Coriander/Cilantro

Coriander (cilantro) is the herb celebrated on this date by the French Revolutionary Calendar. It's one of those things that divides the world into two camps, those who love it and those who hate it, a bit like Marmite. If you love it, enjoy these facts. If not - know thy enemy! Also, fact #7 will explain why you dislike the stuff. Personally, I like it.

1. Coriander belongs to the parsley family and its scientific name is Coriandrum sativum.
2. The whole plant is edible including the seeds and roots as well as the leaves. The seeds are always known as coriander, but the leaves are sometimes called Chinese parsley, and Americans call it cilantro.
3. It has been around a long time. The ancient Egyptians believed coriander could be used in the afterlife as a food for the departed. Hence there was coriander in King Tut's tomb (since Egypt is not one of the places coriander grows naturally, this is taken as evidence that the Egyptians cultivated it). The Chinese believed it imparted immortality and that if a pregnant woman ate it, her baby would be a genius; it was used in love potions in the Middle Ages, usually mixed with Wine. It is mentioned in the Bible (Exodus, XVI, 31) - it was the bitter herb of the passover meal. It was also mentioned in The Tales of the Arabian Nights.
4. Coriander was grown in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
5. The plant is native to Southern Europe, North Africa and West Asia. The Romans used it - Roman soldiers took it with them to help preserve their food which is how it got to England, from whence it was taken to North America by colonists around 1670.
6. Before the seeds have matured, the plant doesn't smell too nice. In fact, the ancient Greeks thought it smelled like bed bugs, The Ancient Greek word for a bed bug was Koris, so that is how the plant got its name. The American variant, cilantro, is Spanish for coriander.
7. There is a significant number of people who would say coriander tastes disgusting. This is basically because those people are mutants - that is to say they are genetically predisposed to find the taste of coriander unpleasant. These people will tell you the herb tastes like rancid soap or metal. Coriander leaves contain chemicals called aldehydes (some of which are also found in the secretions of stink bugs, so this no doubt explains the smell of the plants, too). People who don't like coriander have a gene which makes them especially sensitive to the taste and smell of these chemicals. People who live in cultures where coriander is used a lot in cooking are less likely to dislike it, which may mean the gene is less common, or that there are other factors at work whereby haters can, over time with repeated exposure, acquire a taste for it.
8. Because both the seeds and leaves are commonly used, coriander is classified both as a herb and a spice. The roots are used in Thai curries.
9. Sugarplums, as referred to in the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, were actually a treat made of sugar coated coriander.
10. Coriander leaves are rich in Vitamin C and K and the plant is a good source of dietary fibre, manganese, Iron and magnesium, with traces of protein, calcium, phosphorous, Potassium, thiamine, niacin and carotene.