Herb. No. 101 · Apiaceae
Old World coriander of the Mediterranean and West Asia; leaf and seed travel with every cuisine.
Native · Mediterranean · West Asia
Native Also grownNow a garden plant worldwide
OpenGentleplant
Cilantro
Coriandrum sativum
The herb people argue about — leaf for salsa, seed for digestion. A two-crop kitchen annual.
Coriander is an ancient Mediterranean and Asian spice plant. Fresh leaf is cilantro; ripe seed is coriander. Traditional use of the seed is carminative after heavy, fatty meals. Some people taste soap in the leaf (a genetic OR6A2 variant) — that is not a moral failing. Culinary amounts are the path.
Flavor
Leaf is polarizing: citrus-green or soap. Seed is warm, orange-peel, and sweet-spice.
Parts used
Leaf · Ripe seed
In favor
- Two harvests from one sowing
- Seed stores well
Against
- Bolts in heat
- The soap gene is real