Coriander, an increasingly popular herb

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Growing Rhubarb

Rhubarb, although always cooked and eaten as if it were a fruit, is usually grown in the vegetable garden - and rates as a vegetable on the show bench.

Coriander, an increasingly popular herb

While I say that coriander is increasing in popularity it is also true to say that it was once extensively grown in Essex to produce seeds for use in confectionery. This use has declined and nowadays it is more often grown for its leaves, which are used fresh or dried in a wide range of dishes, than for the seeds.

Coriander is a hardy annual which can be sown at any time from March until July (or in September for a very early crop). To produce the best quality foliage it should be grown fast, grown slowly the leaves become stringy. It needs, therefore, a moist soil rich in nitrogen.

Sowing & Cultivating Coriander

Seed is best sown in drills some 1/2Jn (1cm) deep. Sow the seeds thickly, so close that they touch and do not thin the young plants. Grown close together they force each other to grow up towards the light and to grow fast.

Through the summer usable leaves can be produced in as little as six weeks. The best leaves for the kitchen are those springing directly from the base of the plant. These are almost identical to French, or plain leaved, parsley in appearance - indeed the easiest way to tell the two apart is by smell. The leaves produced on the flowering stems are finely divided and less well flavoured (although perfectly usable).

Origins of the Name

The name, coriander, is said to come from the Greek word "koros", meaning "bug" and the leaves smell like squashed bed bugs - use them with care! (Yes, I have smelt squashed bed bugs, not at home but in a monastery on Mt Athos in Greece). It is possible that the smell attracts the flies and beetles that pollinate the flowers.

Producing Coriander Seed

To produce a crop of seeds the seeds are best sown thinly and the seedlings thinned to 6in (15cm) apart. Gather the seeds before they are completely ripe or you will lose many of them, either to the birds or because they just drop off.

Coriander History

Coriander has been used in the east for centuries and is an essential herb in the kitchens of China, south east Asia and the Indian sub continent. Seeds have been found in Egyptian tombs of the 21st Dynasty. It was well known in classical Greece and Rome and was taken to America by the earliest colonists. It is so widely grown that it is uncertain where it originated.

Uses of Coriander

As well as using the leaves as a herb and garnish and the seeds as a flavouring in both sweet and savoury dishes and as an ingredient of curry powder the seeds have been used to scent after shave lotions and toilet waters.

This article originally appeared in the Members Bulletin now called Simply Vegetables, the journal of the National Vegetable Society, which is sent quarterly to members. You can Join the National Vegetable Society here

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