I have always grown cilantro in my garden but have never harvested the seeds until this year. Two weeks ago, I cut all of the seed heads off of the plants in the garden and placed them in a large brown paper bag. Then I hung the bag in a cool, dark place and allowed the seeds to dry out even further. Today, I found a sunny spot on the dining room floor and spent an hour gently rubbing all of the seed heads to release the fragrant brown little seeds into a basket. Finally, I removed the remaining stems and put the seeds in a glass jar. I will use these all year in my Asian and Indian dishes as well as in some medicinal teas to enhance digestion.
Coriander seeds come from cilantro (Coriandrum sativum), a hardy annual native to southern Europe and western Asia. This popular herb has lobed dark green leaves, which tend to become more finely divided as the stems elongate and form flowers. Also known as ‘Chinese parsley’, all parts of this plant can be used. The leaves have a very distinct oily or soapy smell and in my experience people either really love it or strongly dislike it.
Coriander is one of the world’s oldest herbs. Seeds were found in ancient Egyptian tombs and though introduced to China in about AD600, coriander is still known as hu, ‘foreign’. It is also mentioned several times in the Old Testament and is included among bitter Passover herbs. ~Brown
Cilantro’s tiny flowers eventually form spherical brown seeds, called coriander. The seeds smell sweet and almost citrus (lemon-orange) when ripe (and more so when roasted). Coriander is closely related to caraway, fennel, dill and anise. Harvest the seeds as soon as they harden and turn brown in late summer. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry, dark place. The dried seeds keep for about a year.
Medicinal Uses:
The essential oil extracted from the seeds is used in flavoring, in the making of perfumes and medicinally. Here are some of the medicinal benefits to incorporating coriander in your diet:
• anti-rheumatic and eases joint pains
• promotes digestion and relives indigestion and gas
• reduces abdominal swelling
• reduce fever
• aids colds
• induces perspiration
• seed extracts are added to laxatives
• as an ingredient of gripe water for babies
• chew the seeds to neutralize the smell of garlic
Put 1 tablespoon of just-roasted freshly ground coriander seeds with two pieces of dried orange peel, three slices of fresh ginger and three cups of water into a pot. Boil for five minutes then allow to steep for an additional ten minutes. Strain into teacups. Add honey if you like your tea sweet. This soothing tea is perfect when enjoyed after dinner as it aids digestion.
Culinary Uses:
Coriander seeds are more flavorful if you roast them just before grinding in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. According to Fortin, “Whole or ground coriander add flavor to a wide range of foods, including seafood, fish, rice, meats, omelets, potatoes, cheeses, curries, marinades, chutneys, cookies, cakes and gingerbread. They go well with parsley, lemon and ginger, and are included in curry powder and garam masala (essential spice mixture in Indian cuisine). Coriander is used to make balm water and liquors such as Chartreuse and Izarra, and is an ingredient of inferior-quality cocoa (1996: p. 490).”
Coriander seeds go very well with apples. Try the freshly roasted crushed seeds in the topping for apple crumble to give an age-old dessert new life. ~Brown
For generations, British children have been rewarded with “comfits”. These sugar-coated pink or white candies withstood sucking for a long time. When the sugar coating was gone, what remained in the middle was a coriander seed. Coriander seeds is also found in the middle of jaw breakers. ~Lois Hole
One of my nosy neighbors peeking in to see what I was up to today…
Resources:
Brown, D. (2001). Herbal: The Essential Guide to Herbs for Living. Pavilion Books: London.
Creasy, R. (2000). The Edible Asian Garden. Periplus Enterprises Ltd.: Boston, MA.
Fortin, J. (1996). The Visual Food Encyclopedia. Les Editions: Quebec.
Hole, L. (2000). Herbs & Edible Flowers: Gardening for the Kitchen. Hole’s: St. Alberta, Alberta.
Lu, H. C. (1996). The Chinese System of Using Foods to Stay Young. Sterling Publishing: New York.
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These past two weeks I have been working hard at getting the cabin ready for winter. This involves putting the gardens to bed for winter, blowing out the irrigation, raking leaves, emptying the pond, organizing winter vegetable storage, excavating the fire pit (for winter fires), washing windows and decking, and generally putting things away for the winter. Yesterday, I was finally able to get up on the roof to sweep and clean out the eaves troughs.
There is a row of huge spruce trees which grow behind the cabin. All year long they drop their acidic needles onto the roof and into the eaves troughs. Strong winds blow many of these off and onto the ground below. In the fall, I like to get up here and do a very thorough job of cleaning off the roof before the snow comes. This year (pictured above) it wasn’t too bad. Take a look (below) at what I had to tackle last year…!!!
Last year, it took me half a day to clean the roof as I was on my hands and knees prying off large mats of needles and debris with my hands, then sweeping it all off the roof with a push broom. Yesterday was a much lighter, easier job!
I also inspected the mantle. Last year there were large cracks and many smaller cracks in the stone (see picture below). These needed to be filled with high-temperature caulking to prevent water from freezing and then melting and widening the cracks over time, eventually destroying the mantle. Looks like everything is still fine here.
(Last year below.)
It was quite satisfying looking at my nice clean roof and eaves troughs! I had supper and then spent the next hour sweeping the deck while watching the full moon rise.
Miss Lucy was not impressed with my sweeping debris off of the roof and onto her sleeping spot. She kept changing positions but I always managed to find her.
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