Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Herb guide to Coriander along with all the Coriander containing recipes presented on this site, with 747 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Coriander as a major herb flavouring.

Coriander, Coriandrum sativum (also commonly known as cilantro in North America) is an annual herb in the Apiaceae (carrot) family. Though native to southwestern Asia and north Africa it has been naturalized all over the world. The plant grows to some 50cm tall and can even be grown outside in Northern Europe during the summer. The leaves are generally lobed though in older plants they can be frond-like. The plant also develops leaves of two different shapes, with the base leaves being broad, resembling flat-leaf parsley in shape (these, reputedly, have the superior flavour). The leaves attached to the stems are pinnate in form and their flavour is said to be less fresh.



The flavour of the fresh herb is due to an essential oil (0.1%) that is almost entirely made up of aliphatic aldehydes with 10 to 16 carbon atoms. One finds both saturated (decanal) and α,β unsaturated (trans-2-tridecenal) aldehydes — the same aldehydes that appear in the plant's unripe fruit.



All parts of the plants are edible, but the leaves are most commonly used as a herb and the seeds as a spice. Fresh leaves are frequently used in Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, South Asian, Latin American, Chinese, African and Southeast Asian cuisine. The leaves themselves are variously known as coriander leaves, cilantro (in the United States, from the Spanish name for the plant), dhania (in the Indian subcontinent, and increasingly in Britain), Chinese parsley or Mexican parsley. The leaves are similar to parsley in flavour but have a distinct citrusy overtone. Coriander leaves can be added to sauces and curries as they cook, but they loose their flavour quickly and chopped raw coriander leaves are most often used to top cooked dishes as a garnish immediately before serving.



The name, coriander ultimately derives from the classical Latin coriandrum and Greek koriannon [κορίαννον] and has been known and used since ancient times (the Romans were particularly fond of coriander leaves in their cookery).



One of my favourite ways of using coriander is to mix freshly-chopped leaves with chopped garlic, cheese and butter and to use this to stuff baguettes that have been sliced most of the way through crossways. Cover in aluminium foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. This makes a wonderful variant on the typical garlic bread.



As with many herbs, coriander was common in many European dishes in the past but lost favour during the 18th century. It is now generally only used in dishes originating from outside Europe. This is a shame as coriander goes wonderfully well as a stuffing for fish and chicken.