Comments on: Herbs and Spices

Herbs and Spices

Jimbob — Wed, 05 May 2004 05:52:30 -0800

Gernot Katzer's spice pages - everything you need to know about herbs and spices - 117 of them, in fact, indexed in multiple languages. It seems some Metafiltarians (among others) have a low opinion of coriander...It's my favourite herb, and I was suprised that some people can't handle it, but this site suggests repulsion against it may be genetic! Lots of great stuff to be found, including plenty of herbs you've never heard of.

By: misteraitch

misteraitch — Wed, 05 May 2004 06:33:34 -0800

This is an excellent site which I've had bookmarked for a while - I've found Herr Katzer's magnificent obsession to be a very useful point of reference.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Wed, 05 May 2004 08:09:01 -0800

I love this site and I love coriander/cilantro. (kalustyans is great for tracking down hard to find spices/herbs from around the world)

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Wed, 05 May 2004 09:10:47 -0800

[this is good]

By: janespeed

janespeed — Wed, 05 May 2004 09:18:35 -0800

Thanks for posting this and count me in with the cilantro and culantro lovers. It is one of my very favorite smells/tastes especially in tomatillo salsa.

By: Gilbert

Gilbert — Wed, 05 May 2004 09:24:12 -0800

Nice! Not to be a nit-picker, but Cilantro (or Chinese Parsley), not Coriander, is the herb. Coriander, the ground mature seeds of the same plant, is a spice.

By: Johnny Assay

Johnny Assay — Wed, 05 May 2004 09:34:49 -0800

Except in Britain, where the green stuff is "fresh coriander" and the seeds are "coriander seeds" (I think.)

By: lobakgo

lobakgo — Wed, 05 May 2004 09:36:17 -0800

This is so wonderfully thorough! Mahlab is one of my tests to see how inclusive a book, site, etc. is and he even has images of the fruit. Thanks for a great site! On the cilantro/coriander thing--I often see it referred to as "fresh coriander"(Chinese) or "coriander leaves"(Persian).

By: eatitlive

eatitlive — Wed, 05 May 2004 10:21:11 -0800

There is, however, much disagreement about the flavour of coriander leaves, roots and unripe fruits: Many people of European heiritage find it displeasing, soapy, like "burnt rubber" or even like crushed bedbugs or the evil-smelling gnats living on rose bushes. Great advice. If you've ever picked up parsley instead cilantro, just use crushed bedbugs in your salsa.

By: urlnotfound

urlnotfound — Wed, 05 May 2004 10:30:23 -0800

He who controls the spice, controls the universe.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Wed, 05 May 2004 10:44:05 -0800

This is a great link, thanks!

By: madman

madman — Wed, 05 May 2004 11:55:38 -0800

As an Indian, of course I love coriander. As a guy who runs a South-east Asian restaurant, I love it even more. I've been referring to this site for a long time now. It's great. Another noteworthy site, which goes far beyond herbs, is http://www.foodsubs.com Go visit it now. Go!

By: shoepal

shoepal — Wed, 05 May 2004 11:56:32 -0800

You're right, Johnny Assay. And in Australia they call arugula, "rocket" or "roquette." Eatitlive, I hate when I grab parsley instead of cilantro. But, I love when I get charged for parsley when it's really cilantro in the bag.

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Wed, 05 May 2004 12:39:53 -0800

Yay, Kalustyans! I impressed the hell out of some New Yorkers when I, a mere visitor, introduced them to the place.

By: SteelyDuran

SteelyDuran — Wed, 05 May 2004 15:34:04 -0800

Terrifically great! This is one of those resources I just know that I'll be referring to again and again. Plus, it's another reminder for me to head over to The Spice House and get the non-tea ingredients for some mind-blowingly tasty custom chai.

By: Hildago

Hildago — Wed, 05 May 2004 17:09:56 -0800

Speaking as someone who is only aware of three spices (salt, pepper and cheese), this site is not only useful, but reasonably entertaining to just sit and read. Thanks Jimbob.

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Wed, 05 May 2004 19:56:53 -0800

Jimbob - I like Coriander. Coriander and Cilantro may help to chelate heavy metals - "Dr. Omura recently informed us that he discovered almost by accident, that the leaves of the coriander plant can accelerate the excretion of mercury, lead and aluminum from the body...." Curry is good too : Hot tip - Curry May Protect Aging Brain" ( "Spices protect brain cells, could prevent Alzheimer's disease" ) "elderly (aged 70-79) residents of rural India, who eat large amounts of curry, appear to have the lowest incidence of Alzheimer's disease in the world: 4.4 times lower than that of Americans.2 Does that mean that curry helps prevent Alzheimer's? Perhaps, but it's impossible to say, because innumerable other factors (dietary, genetic, social, economic, lifestyle-related, etc.) would have to be taken into account, and systematically ruled out, before any such conclusion could be drawn. But the correlation is suggestive

By: metrocake

metrocake — Thu, 06 May 2004 15:02:04 -0800

Another good spice source: Kitchen Market. They're based in NYC, but have a mail-order catalog, too.