We are not quite sure where coriander originated, but there are Sanskrit texts which speak about coriander in the gardens in ancient India nearly 7 000 years ago. Coriander seeds were found in tombs from the 21st Egyptian Dynasty, over 3 000 years ago, used as food for the departed.
In Chinese Mythology, the seeds from the coriander plant, were believed to have the power to grant immortality. In “One Thousand and One Nights” aka “Arabian Nights”, a book over 1 000 years old, coriander seeds were mentioned as a part of a mixture that supposedly helped a childless man to have children.
In the Old Testament Bible (Exodus 17:31), the Manna which fed the wanderers for forty years was described as resembling coriander seeds.
Hippocrates, the Ancient Greek physician, recommended the use of coriander as a medicine.
It was the Romans who brought coriander to Britain in the first century AD. The Romans used the herb as a flavouring for their bread, but the British found its usage in meat preservation.
During the Medieval and Renaissance periods, coriander was added to love potions, believed to be an aphrodisiac and a passion stimulator, especially when consumed with wine.
The herb was one of the first to be brought to the Americas by the Spanish Conquistadors to easily find its place in the native dishes.
A remarkable story of a plant which name does not derive from its medical, aromatic or culinary qualities, but ironically, from the strong bug-like smell of the unripe fruit. Coriander’s name is believed to had derived from the Greek word koriannon (bug), a derivative of the Greek koros (insect) and the full botanical name calls coriander “the cultivated buggy-smelling plant”.
Into the English language, the word came from French, through Latin, first attested in late 14th century in John Trevisa’s translation of the early encyclopaedia De Proprietatibus Rerum (On the Properties of Things): “The herb Coriander hat good smell in itself “.
Technically, the word coriander refers to the entire plant, but in Canada and the US, the coriander leaves are better known under the name Cilantro, also sometimes called Chinese or Mexican parsley. Logically, the word cilantro derives from the Spanish name of the herb as is mostly associated with its extensive culinary use in Mexican cuisine.
The first time cilantro appeared in print in the English language was in a 1929 Spanish-Mexican cookery book.
Many of us find the taste of fresh coriander leaves or cilantro repulsive and describe the taste as bitter, soap-like; but coriander seeds are friends of everyone and on top of that, they are highly effective in controlling the insulin release and blood sugar levels regulation which turns them into a super food for people who suffer diabetes.
