Many Europeans and Americans who for the first time sample the delights of Thai
cooking will carefully remove the so called “Chinese Parsley” with which many
dishes are garnished. Little do they realise that this plant is not a Chinese
herb but native to the Middle East and Southern Europe and that they have been
eating the seeds of the coriandrum sativum since childhood, as most western
style sausages contain significant quantities of it.
Coriander
Sativum or Pakchee (Thai).
Coriander is of the Umbelliferae family, kin to a long list of other fragrant
herbs. Parsley, dill, chervil, anise, cumin, celery, caraway and many others as
well as carrots, fennel and pennyworth are members of this clan. It is
interesting that in one of my Dutch books on the subject (“Koken met Kruiden”),
the author says, “All these plants are a dangerous lot as they have a pact with
the devil who will take his share when you sow it. This is obvious as only half
of it will germinate and the rest is presumably taken by the evil one. When, for
some very important reason only, you do have to transplant it, by all means do
so in the name of your arch enemy, as otherwise you will die shortly afterwards.
The ancient ones used to make a witch’s ointment from celery and coriander.”
Other curious properties are attributed to coriander. Another of my books says
that those who eat a lot of it will become mean and avaricious while another
source says that it is beneficial for barren women. According to yet another
book, it arouses the fires of love and was used as in love potions in the middle
ages, and according to my Ceylonese cookbook, it is most “appropriate” for
“heaty” bodies. It is an invaluable tonic for stomach pains and heart problems,
a prevention of gout and it cures ringing ears. It is all of these things and -
if you insist - it even summons the devil.
Eryngium
Foetidum or Pakchee Lao (Thai). Sometimes called fitweed, stinkweed or stinking
sharewort in English.
Coriander is an very ancient herb. A story in the bible to which I have referred
before, (Exodus, XVI, 31), says that when the Israelites wandered in the desert
without proper nourishment, God - in His mysterious ways - sent them “Manna”, a
substance which tasted interestingly of wafers and honey and was “as white as
snow” like coriander seeds. Unfortunately the ungrateful people did not like
this either and complained to Moses about it.
I personally have not seen white coriander seeds as they are usually light brown
but we have to take the anonymous biblical writer’s word for it. Pliny the
Elder, the eminent Roman scholar, mentioned in his writings that the Greeks made
barley soup with coriander powder and the Chinese, far away in the East used and
imported the seeds in very early times as well. Indian cookery depends on a lot
of spices, and coriander seeds are one of the most important among them.
The Greek named the strong smelling herb after a bed bug or “Corus” from which
comes the name coriander, and anybody who have at one stage in their life been
exposed to these little monsters will confirm that the resemblance is amazing
indeed. Since I had been pestered to distraction by these creatures during the
second world war, only after I started growing the plant myself did I overcome
my aversion to this actually wonderful fragrant herb.
All parts of the plant are used for flavouring. The leaves, the seeds and the
roots and what is so astonishing is that the flavour and scent of these three
parts of the plant are all different. It is the green parsley-like leaves which
have this “buggy” smell. This part of the herb is not only used as a garnish
like parsley and as an accompaniment eaten with the Nam Prik or chilli sauce but
also in cooking. It may be briefly fried in hot fat to become crispy while it
loses the “objectionable” odour. I use it in the stuffing of spring rolls, and
wafer thin rice crackers with coriander leaves are delicious. In Thailand and
surrounding countries - for example Vietnam - the uses of coriander leaves are
numerous. As I said every part of the plant has a different fragrance and
flavour and the roots are used in some recipes for roast Chicken or “Gy Yang”
and they are an important flavouring in a delicious Chinese dish of steamed hard
shell crab - Poo Talay - with pork fat and spring onions. Coriander is called
Pak Chee in Thailand, Ketumbar in Indonesia and Malaysia, Dhania in India,
Kottamali in Ceylon and Culantro or Cilantro in Spain.
Coriander was introduced to the New World by the Spaniards. During the
eighteenth century many Tamil (southern Indians) sugarcane workers were imported
in the West Indies where they discovered a plant with almost exactly the same
flavour as the Coriander. It is not related to the proper coriander and called
botanically “Eryngium foetidum”. It is a thistle with rather tough elongated
leaves, prickly and hostile but the flavour is even preferred by some people
over that of the true coriander. When it was introduced to Thailand, I do not
know how but it became popular at once, it seems, and it is now widely used in
Thai cooking, especially in North Eastern cuisine where it is in great demand
for “La’ab”, a spicy North-eastern delicacy of meat or fish with spices and
herbs, eaten with sticky or glutinous rice. This New World plant is locally
called Pakchee Lao or sometimes Pakchee Farang (There is a lot of confusion in
this department as dill is also called Pakchee Lao and the proper parsley is
called Pak Chee Farang as well). The plant is easily cultivated in the tropics
and grows on my balcony herb garden.
