Cilantro Angst
” Didn’t you say we’re out of cilantro?” Pomi looked at the bowl of salad I had placed before him.
” I popped down to the greengrocer’s.”
” You didn’t have to!” My little crochet doll smiled.
” I know.”
” You love me a lot, don’t you?”
” I can’t have you call me ‘Cilantro Nazi’.”
” Grow Cilantro in your herb garden. That’ll save you the trip to the greengrocer’s.”
” Do you know how many people don’t like cilantro?”
” Cilantrophobes? I didn’t count them.”
” Very funny. But you see, Cilantro has a rather nasty odor to it, a soapy aroma, a buggy smell. It’s because of those fatty substances, aldehydes…”
Pomi flinched. ” Is this going to be another one of you lectures?” he interrupted me. ” I ran into this guy at your daughter’s the other day. I was inspecting her herb garden. By the way she grows everything there, rosemary, thyme, mint, lemon grass and parsley, even hyssop but no cilantro of course.
Anyway, suddenly there was this guy. I think he was guarding the herbs, a fellow in stripes. I asked him if there was any cilantro. Instead of just saying ‘no’ he started to lecture me and he was going on and on about those alde….”
” Aldehydes. They are found in essential oils and contribute to their odors. They can smell of soap. Or bugs. Some insects produce strong smelling aldehyde rich body fluids to keep their enemies away. So does cilantro. Buy the way, when you crush its leaves cilantro looses its strong smell within minutes.”
Pomi looked at me over his bowl of salad and said: 
” So what’s with the cilantro angst then? Have some salad!”
Reblogged this on Johnbalaya and commented:
Heck Le Berry is one of the most delightful blogs around. It’s the adventures/stories of Pomi, the little crocheted guy, and his owner (mom?). The blog features delightful little tales, and wonderful photography of Pomi’s adventures. Check it out. It will make you smile.
Thank you John 🙂 ! Pomi is delighted! And so am I 🙂 !
This is great!! So glad others are discovering and loving Pomi’s adventures. 🙂
I’m with Pomi, I like cilantro. It does have an odd odour and taste if you’re not used to it, but it really wakes up the taste buds. And maybe I just like the name, very musical!! 🙂
The first time I bought cilantro I did so accidentally, I thought it was parsley because it does look almost the same. I think. But the smell gives it away, and the softness of the leaves. I am getting used to the aroma and I think next time I make Pomi’s salad I will make some for myself. I tried it, it’s not bad. Not bad at all ;-).
Yes, I also bought it by accident thinking it was parsley! I tried some and didn’t like it at first, but Omer (Michal’s significant other) is Yemenite and loves to cook with it (loves to cook in general – lucky Michal!) so I had more chances to eat it and began to find the flavour more and more interesting and appealing.
yes ist looks like parsley :-), but for mecilantro tastes and smells awfull
I must say I am getting used to the taste. In fact I am beginning to like it, 🙂 Pomi wins, I guess.:-).
So glad to have found your blog! Thanks so much for the “like” on my spidery post. I can’t bear cilantro (or coriander – as we call it in the UK) and have always maintained that it tastes of detergent – at last I have the evidence I’ve been waiting for! Aldehydes, you say? There’s a word I feel I’ll be making plentiful use of in the future in coriander-related rants!
Thank you!!! Pomi and I are very happy you found us. Your spidery post was great. I have learned to live with spiders ;-). They don’t freak me out the way they used to. I am learning to live with cilantro too, can’t deprive Pomi of one of his favorite things. As far as the odor is concerned, it helps to know what the enemy’s name is: aldehydes 😉 and that they really do surrender to sharp knives ;-).