Coriander is native to regions spanning from Southern Europe and Northern Africa to Southwestern Asia. It is one of the oldest herbs on record the seeds were even found in ruins dating back to 5000 B.C. It wasn’t until the Late Bronze Age, that invaders introduced the herb into Britain using it to flavour their barley gruel. The British also used to mix coriander with cumin and vinegar and in order to preserve their meat. The unpleasant smell of the herb leading to it being used for medicinal purposes. As people believed that anything with such a strong and unpleasant odour must have powerful curative and/or preventive attributes.
The herb is extremely easy to grow with beautiful green leaves that look similar to flat parsley. All part of the plant is able to be put to use, for the leaves just cut at the base of the plant, wash in a colander under the cold tap, part dry and pop in a zip tie plastic bag and freeze. This can be kept in the freezer for 18-24months if you can resist not eating it. Once frozen crush in the bag and add to curry from frozen.
Coriander pesto
Ingredients
- 1 bunch/s fresh coriander leaves
- 1 clove/s garlic -crushed
- 60 g raw cashew nuts (¼ cup) toasted
- 30 g parmesan cheese (2 tablespoons) finely grated
- 1 lime/s juice and zest
- 20 ml macadamia nut oil (1 tablespoon)
Method
- Place the coriander and cashews in the processor and pulse until just chopped.
- Mix in the parmesan, crushed garlic, lime juice and zest and macadamia oil until combined and serve.
When storing the pesto drizzle with a little olive oil this will prevent it from discolouring, then store in an airtight container in the fridge and date. This will keep for approximately 1 month.
We hope you have learned something new today and for those of you who try out any of the recipes be sure to tag @GrimscoteManor in photos of your delicious pesto. We’d love to see them!
