August’s post was quite deep, but I felt a lot better for offloading it.  This month’s post is not as deep, but I know I’ll feel just as good for offloading on this important matter too:

Coriander.

It’s taken nearly thirty four years, but I think I’ve finally identified a personal bugbear when it comes to the otherwise wonderful world of food, and that bugbear comes in the guise of a reach green leaf which makes me groan whenever I see it on a plate, or read about it in a recipe.

Which is a lot.

Because for some completely incomprehensible reason, the modern world seems to have a bizarre obsession with lacing all and every kind of cuisine with “a few coriander leaves”.  And I’ve had enough.

The recipe could be going so, so well.  You could be salivating over the thought of the nice, sweet, coconut-y Thai curry, or the rich vegetable soup you’re preparing, but then comes that inevitable instruction about the coriander leaves.

There you see them, immersed within the dish as it’s presented to you in the restaurant.

And that’s when you get that sinking feeling, when you realise that a highly-anticipated dish is now destroyed.

They’ll try and convince you that they’re just there for a bit of extra kick.  But if coriander was indeed just a kick, it’d be the sort that could boot Earth to the other side of the solar system – taking all the other planets with it – without doing any damage to its toes.

If coriander was a person, it’d be the kind that persistently talks over you in a loud honk of a voice and tells you you’re wrong.

And if each bowling pin represented a different ingredient, coriander would be the sixteen pound ball that menaces manically down the lane and bundles them all over into oblivion.

The smallest sprig of coriander can take over an entire dish.  No doubt that irritates all the other ingredients, who try their hardest to taste pleasant to the tongue, only to be overshadowed by a little green leaf.

And it’s just not fair.  And we need to start recognising that.

Say no to coriander.  There’s a thyme and a place.

Song of the Day: Eerie Wanda – Big Blue Bird

One of my favourite musical discoveries of 2019 – indie pop band led by Dutch-Croatian singer Marina Tadic.  Pet Town is a brilliant album and perfect for this time of year.