CORIANDER– Botanical name = Coriandrum sativum [கொத்துமல்லி/ கொத்தமல்லி, மல்லி**,மல்லித்தழை,தனியா vernacular] \ **REFER to FOOT NOTE
Coriandrum
sativum [Botanical name ; Fam: Apiaceae
An undoubted darling of
every food lover is coriander. How to go about bringing out its elegance
is as much a challenge as it would be in
attempting a description of a ‘taste’ or tint of any stuff, close to the real.
It is well-nigh impossible to sustain truth devoid of exaggeration or
uncontaminated appreciation. Yet one’s delight of a thing has such a possessive
value that the best of writers cannot upkeep unbiased description by the sheer
grip that a spice like coriander has on all delicacies.
Curiously the name
‘Coriander’ includes the leaves and seeds of the plant that constitute
ingredients in most culinary systems across the world. But the name ‘coriander’
is used to refer to the seeds while ‘cilantro’ is the name for leaves of this
plant [in US ,Canada and around].
Technically the
coriander seeds are fruits indeed and two halves of a fruit has a seed each.
So, for sowing, the fruits are broken and randomly sown in soils mixed with
riverbed sand. The river sand is a barrier for ants to venture looking for the
seeds sown. On most soils ants can rig tunnels and gather items of food value .
Tunneling in sand rich soils is rendered impossible by loose particles of sand
which always collapse and shut the space in a tunnel. It frustrates the efforts
of tunneling by ants, allowing the seeds to germinate. Households that store
potable water in earthen pots support such pots over sand beds. Pots
are porous and droplets of water seep [the mechanism behind cooling of water in
mud pots] keeping the sandbed moist. Such beds can be availed of as coriander
plots by sowing some 20-25 crushed fruits in batches of 5 or six at a time so
that fresh coriander plantlets can be harvested for fresh supply of leafy spice
as culinary embellishment with captivating aroma of those young leaves.
Historically coriander
is suggested to have originated from Mediterranean. Now it is a global delight.
However, some ethnic populations seem to have a divided perception and coriander
as a spice enjoys a divided appeal. While it surprises us that ‘CORIANDER’
fails to appeal for some, studies have shown results as under. About 22 %
East Africans, 17% Caucasians [major
zones of the world], 17% Africans, 7% South Asians and about 3% from Middle
East do not like coriander. The aroma of Coriander is a complex issue and
some 6 or more Aldehydes are known to be critical factors in the aroma of
coriander. In fact the ‘Like’ or ‘Dislike’ response of humans to coriander is
one of human genetics too!
More to follow next week
K. Raman
FOOT NOTE
In Chennai region, the
vernacular name ‘ Malli’, also refers to Jasmine flowers. Chennai, though the
capital of TN, is not the capital for Tamil language. Many youth of this region
speak Tamil [mother tongue] but cannot scribe in Tamil.-a grand irony indeed.
[சென்னைப்பகுதிகளில்
மல்லி
என்றால்
மல்லிகைப்பூ
வையும்
குறிக்கும்
. சென்னை
தமிழகத்தின்
தலைநகர்
எனினும்
தமிழுக்கு தலைநகர்
அல்ல. தாய்
மொழி
தமிழ்
பேசுகின்ற, ஆனால் தமிழ்
எழுதத்தெரியாத
இளையோர்
பலர்
சென்னையின்
சிறப்பு
என்றால்
வினோதம்
அல்லவா?]
தொடரும்
அன்பன் ராமன்
