CORIANDER

 

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?]

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