Herbidacious!
August 26, 2011
The news this week that coriander oil is now believe to be of great benefit in dealing with food bugs is good news, but not very surprising.
Plants were used for medicinal purposes long before recorded history. Ancient Chinese and Egyptian papyrus writings describe medicinal uses for plants. African and Native American cultures used herbs in healing rituals. What experts now know is that people in different parts of the world tended to use the same or similar plants for the same purposes.
Most cooks love herbs – Jamie Oliver says if he didn’t have herbs, he probably wouldn’t bother. It sounds extreme but once you start growing your own herbs, you do suddenly start planning meals around what you have a glut of in the same way people with vegetable patches do. This week I’m trying out mint sauce recipes since I have a huge pot of it. I’m also going to make something spicy tomorrow night just so I can use mint in some nice natural yogurt to go with it.
Coriander grows very easily but bolts quickly so you have to keep using the leaves. You can let it go to seed, let them dry out and then use them in cooking too. But I love the stuff and want lots of it in any Asian dish. It can transform a very simple curry or noodle salad.
It is sometimes called Chinese parsley, a bit of a misnomer since the taste is vastly different. It’s also one of the few herbs we use commonly now but did not appear as a character in The Herbs, possibly because it was too exotic then. It’s believed the word coriander comes from the Greek ‘koris’, meaning bed bug because they believed that an infested bed gave off a similar smell to the leaves.
This week’s recipe is pretty much Nigella’s gingery duck, which I made last Saturday night. It’s a lovely late summer dish when we’re perhaps gearing up for meatier dinners but are not quite ready to dive into the autumn stew stage. The orange is a classic with duck but this gives it a new, fresh twist. If you don’t care for duck, beef can work too. The important thing is the meat has to be rare when you plunge it into the marinade/sauce.
Ginger and orange duck
Serves two
Two duck breasts, skin trimmed at the edges and scored
One chilli, deseeded and chopped finely
Large piece of fresh ginger, grated
Juice of one lime
Juice of an orange (or a small wine glass)
One orange, segmented
Tbsp of sesame oil
2-3 tbsp of soy sauce
A green salad with lettuce, spring onions and thinly sliced cucumber
Coriander
Rub the duck breasts with salt and just a tiny amount of sunflower or groundnut oil. Heat a griddle or frying pan until it is very hot and lay the duck skin-side down. It should sizzle. When the fat starts to run out, turn the duck over and sear the other side. Turn the heat down to moderate and put the breasts skin-side down again and then don’t touch. Cook over this gently heat for about another 10-15 minutes (depending on thickness). When most of the fat has come out and the skin is thin and crisping, remove to a warm plate and allow to rest.
While the duck is cooking, place the salad on a large platter. Put all the other ingredients in a large bowl and whisk thoroughly. When the duck has rested, slice as thinly as possible and plunge into the mixture. Pour any juices from the resting plate into the bowl too. Scatter over the salad leaves and cover with a good handful or coriander leaves.
