[Sca-cooks] Coriander, Fig Cheese WAS Back Again

[Sharon Gordon]

>OK.  How about corriander.  How many different varieties are there?  I
brought some whole seeds with me to make the garlic/corriander olives for
Atlantia's party.  It is the same stuff I always get and use.  Smells
wonderful, looks fresh, has a very nice flavor.  Bec brought hers.  Looked
different, didn't smell as good, tasted not so good.  I know she got her's
fairly recently but it was so much different.  I opted to use a bit of her's
to a lot of mine, just so she didn't feel bad.  Well, the good news is that
the crowd ate almost all of a #10 can of black olives.


One basic difference can be that some corianders have been bred to have
really tasty seeds and others have been bred to have really tasty leaves
(cilantro).  Either kind works for either purpose and may taste fine, but if
one is used for the other you may get variation in taste that you weren't
expecting.  Most seed catalogs will differentiate between seeds and leaves,
but not specific varieties beyond that.

Also if too large a percentage of the seeds were picked under ripe they can
have an unpleasant flavor.  The seeds ripen at different times on the plant
and it's best if about 2/3 rds are ripe.  If you wait too long the pods open
and fling the actual seeds about, so there is a tricky window there.  I have
been picking some from my garden and hoping that I have been guessing right,
but still loosing some to shattering.

Here's some info on different seeds:

http://www.webindia.com/ltc/pageb.htm

Photo of a coriander seed discovered at the Silchester site in an
archeological pit from late 300's-400's AD.
http://www.rdg.ac.uk/AcaDepts/la/silchester/publish/2002_roman_garden.htm
And there's a demo plot for a replica Roman Britain garden.   There's fig
seed too. (I didn't know figs could be used to curdle milk.  Anyone tried
making fig cheese?)

Sharon
gordonse at one.net




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