https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-are-italian-herbs * * Trips [aoa_logo_a] Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura! Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life. Visit Adventures Trips Highlight Turkmenistan Gates of Hell Darvaza crater Turkmenistan * 10 days, 9 nights Turkmenistan and the Gates of Hell from $4,285 USD Scenic view of agricultural fields near Niigata Japan * 9 days, 8 nights Hidden Japan: Sado Island & Beyond from $6,980 USD View all trips * Experiences Upcoming Experiences View All Experiences >> [blank-f2c3] Members only Monster of the Month w/ Colin Dickey: Arctic Ghosts [blank-f2c3] Members only Summer Camp: Reading the Skies, Befriending Birds, & Scary Films [blank-f2c3] Members only Accidental Discoveries [blank-f2c3] Members only Monster of the Month w/ Colin Dickey: Venusians [blank-f2c3] Members only Accidental Discoveries * Courses Upcoming Courses View All Courses >> [blank-f2c3] Wildcrafting With Weeds & Invasive Plants With Vanessa Chakour [blank-f2c3] Summer Camp: Reading the Skies, Befriending Birds, & Scary Films [blank-f2c3] Making Scents: Experimental Perfumery With Saskia Wilson-Brown [blank-f2c3] 3D Paper Art: Pop-Ups and Paper Engineering With Yoojin Kim [blank-f2c3] Writing the Food Memoir: A Workshop With Gina Rae La Cerva * Places + Top Destinations + Latest Places + Most Popular Places + Random Place + Lists + Itineraries + ------------------------------------------------------------- Add a Place ------------------------------------------------------------- + Download the App Latest Places View All Places >> [blank-f2c3] Zurich, Switzerland Lindenhof Keller 47.3726, 8.5409 This unconventional cathedral invites visitors to marvel at the beauty of creation. Rindge, New Hampshire Cathedral of the Pines 42.7748, -71.9883 Thrombolites of Lake Clifton Clifton, Australia Lake Clifton Thrombolites -32.7452, 115.6540 La Sardina Encallada Murcia, Spain 'La Sardina Encallada' ('The Stranded Sardine') 37.9826, -1.1307 Top Destinations View All Destinations >> Countries + Australia + Canada + China + France + Germany + India + Italy + Japan Cities + Amsterdam + Barcelona + Beijing + Berlin + Boston + Budapest + Chicago + London + Los Angeles + Mexico City + Montreal + Moscow + New Orleans + New York City + Paris + Philadelphia + Rome + San Francisco + Seattle + Stockholm + Tokyo + Toronto + Vienna + Washington, D.C. * Foods Latest Places to Eat & Drink View All Places to Eat >> A half-smoke sausage from Weenie Beenie Weenie Beenie [blank-f2c3] Midden [blank-f2c3] Wildflower Brewery [blank-f2c3] Italian American Club Restaurant Since 1986, the Cafe Avissinia has served Cypriot and Macedonian dishes. Cafe Avissinia * Stories + Recent Stories + All Stories + Puzzles + Video + Podcast Most Recent Stories View All Stories >> Antarctic midges are flightless and about the size of a sugar ant. Antarctica's Largest Native Land Animal Is Actually Rather Tiny For more than half a century, the traveling International Astronomical Youth Camp has offered a gateway to careers in astronomy--and to lifelong friendships. Up at Noon, Out All Night: This Summer Camp Is for Serious Stargazers The prepared hiker plans for no cell signal--and packs a paper map. How to Survive Without a Cell Phone Signal When taking care of business in the woods, you can have it all: respecting the environment and other humans in the area, and being reasonably clean and comfortable. How to Poop in the Woods * Newsletters * Sign In Join * Explore Newsletters * Sign In ----------------------------------------------------------------- Join * Places near me Random place Wondrous food to explore and enjoy Gastro Obscura Intriguing stories served fresh daily Why Italy Fell Out of Love With Cilantro Coriander went from ancient staple to persona non grata. by Andrew Coletti July 1, 2024 Why Italy Fell Out of Love With Cilantro Copy Link Facebook Twitter Reddit Flipboard Pocket Coriander or cilantro has a long history in Italy. Coriander or cilantro has a long history in Italy. Alamy In This Story [blank-f2c3] Destination Guide Italy 104 Articles 1020 Places When you think of Italian herbs, cilantro (also known as coriander) is probably not the first one that comes to mind. Yet crack open the fifth-century Roman cookbook Apicius, and you'll find it included in 18 percent of all recipes. Roman chefs prized both the citrusy seeds and pungent leaves of the plant they called coriandrum for sauces, salads, roasts, and flavored beverages, among other dishes. Compare this with Pellegrino Artusi's Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, published in 1891 and often considered the foundational text of modern Italian cuisine. Coriander leaves are absent from the book's nearly 800 recipes, and the seeds show up in just four desserts. Artusi also warned readers to beware of buying cinnamon powder from unscrupulous merchants who "throw in handfuls of coriander seeds to increase the volume with a cheap ingredient." From this reference, we can infer that there was no lack of coriander in late 19th-century Italy. But at some point between Apicius and Artusi, Italians largely stopped cooking with it. "In dishes, I would be surprised to ever find [coriander] in something from 1700 onwards," says Karima Moyer-Nocchi, a culinary historian at the University of Siena in Italy. Moyer-Nocchi explains that while coriander is not entirely absent from Italian cuisine today, its uses are far more limited than in past centuries. "Predominantly in central Italy, porchetta is going to be prepared with slightly crushed coriander seeds," says Moyer-Nocchi. "Around the time when people are slaughtering their pigs, you'll find big bags of coriander at the supermarket." The leaves, on the other hand, "are absolutely not being used," she adds. "I have to drive 45 minutes to a grocery store in another city to find it, or grow it myself." The boneless rolled pork roast porchetta is seasoned with coriander seeds in some regions of Italy. The boneless rolled pork roast porchetta is seasoned with coriander seeds in some regions of Italy. Pedro Angelini/CC BY 2.0 Native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, coriander has a long and widespread history of human cultivation. Latin coriandrum, the source of many modern names for the plant, was borrowed from the Ancient Greek koriandron or koriadnon. The Romans developed a taste for the ingredient through the extensive Greek influence on their cuisine. During the Roman era, Moyer-Nocchi says, "coriander is being grown locally in Italy, whereas other spices are coming in through the trade routes." Coriander was also imported due to high demand. Pliny the Elder wrote in the first century that the herb was extensively grown in Roman Egypt. Archaeologists have found coriander seeds alongside those of other herbs like dill and fennel at Roman sites throughout Europe, including Britain. The frequency with which these seeds are found, and the fact that they have been discovered in remote settlements far from centers of power, demonstrates that coriander was consumed by all levels of Roman society. Aside from food, coriander was cultivated for medicinal purposes like soothing stomach aches, and for food preservation thanks to the seeds' antibacterial properties, which is why they are still used in some of Italy's regional salt-cured meats. Moyer-Nocchi describes a combination of factors that contributed to coriander's decline after the fall of Rome. One was that the former empire absorbed influences from Germanic tribes to the north like the Visigoths, "who don't have that tradition" of cooking with coriander. Another was that coriander's local availability made it less elite than other spices. "Culturally, it's not an expression of anyone's wealth," says Moyer-Nocchi. Instead, Asian spices like cinnamon and cardamom, imported from afar at great cost, became medieval status symbols. "Numidian chicken," named for a region in Roman North Africa, is one of many dishes in the ancient cookbook Apicius made with coriander."Numidian chicken," named for a region in Roman North Africa, is one of many dishes in the ancient cookbook Apicius made with coriander. Carole Raddato/CC BY-SA 2.0 Moyer-Nocchi explains that medieval Italians divided spices into two categories: "sweet" and "strong." Powdered blends of sweet spices--including sugar--were used in a majority of dishes, but "coriander is put over into the strong spices with pepper," she says, "so it's going to be used less." Coriander leaves fell even further out of fashion than the seeds because their distinct flavor clashed with the trendy imported ingredients of the time, such as rosewater. In 1544, physician and botanist Pietro Andrea Mattioli described the leaves as smelling like bed bugs or stink bugs, a comparison echoed by later authors. Coriander leaf was already mostly absent from Italian cuisine by the Renaissance, but the seeds continued to be used as a spice. They were also coated in sugar to make confetti, or "comfits" in English. These were chewed at banquets as an after-dinner mouth freshener and digestive, similar to mukhwas, the mixture of sweetened whole spices chewed in South Asia today for the same purpose. At festive celebrations, coriander comfits were thrown and scattered, giving rise to the English word "confetti" for the paper particles that later replaced them. In modern Italy, paper confetti is still called coriandoli, meaning "coriander seeds," while confetti usually refers to a different kind of comfit, the sugared almonds given out at weddings and communions. Italy enjoyed a reputation as a center of culinary innovation and refinement until the end of the 16th century, says Moyer-Nocchi, when France replaced it as Europe's trend-setter. "And that's where spices just fall by the wayside," she says. French chefs of the 17th and 18th centuries deliberately set themselves apart from the earlier Italian tradition by focusing on fresh herbs instead of dried spices and specific ingredient pairings instead of sweet and strong spice blends. As Italian chefs looked to the example of the French, "Italy frankly lost its culinary identity with the utter dominance of France for the next two centuries," says Moyer-Nocchi. And when a distinct Italian culinary identity emerged with the unification of the modern nation in the 19th century, long-abandoned coriander was not revived, but left behind. Coriander seed is sometimes used with other spices in cavallucci , a Christmas pastry from central Italy.Coriander seed is sometimes used with other spices in cavallucci, a Christmas pastry from central Italy. Nemo bis/CC BY-SA 3.0 Modern Italians see coriander as a foreign ingredient that separates them from other groups of people; what Moyer-Nocchi calls a "culinary marker." "That comes down to a very basic sort of [idea], 'What are the flavors that are going to express my identity?" she says. These days, "coriander just doesn't fit into the culinary grammar of how Italians choose to express themselves." Moyer-Nocchi points out that coriander is not the only herb whose popularity has ebbed and flowed in Italy over the centuries. Marjoram was once widely used, but "no one necessarily associates that with Italy anymore," she says. On the other hand, some of the flavors modern Italians use to express themselves have not actually been "Italian" for very long. Basil, which originated in Asia, has only been part of Italian cuisine for a few hundred years. "It's very young, and yet seems so Italian," Moyer-Nocchi says. From Thailand with chilies to Belgium with chocolate, many modern nations have embraced once-foreign ingredients, folding them into their culinary identity until their absence becomes unthinkable. The curious history of cilantro in Italy shows that the reverse is also true. Sometimes, an ingredient becomes so unpopular that we forget it's been there all along. Gastro Obscura covers the world's most wondrous food and drink. Sign up for our email, delivered twice a week. Read next A Gastro Obscura Guide to Houston Superb kolaches, Tex-Mex, Viet-Cajun crawfish, and more in Space City. [blank-f2c3] herbsfood historyspicesrenaissanceromanmedievalfood Want to see fewer ads? Become a Member. Want to see fewer ads? Become a Member. Using an ad blocker? We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the world's hidden wonders. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. Continue Using Ad-Block Support Us Keep Exploring An ancient Pompeiian may have enjoyed this meal of braised duck. ancient Reconstructing the Menu of a Pub in Ancient Pompeii Eat like a first-century Roman, using recent archaeological discoveries as your guide. Farrell Monaco January 26, 2021 Apicius doesn't specify decorating this dish with rose petals, but it adds a nice touch. ancient Make Ancient Roman Brain and Rose Souffle Somebody in the fifth century combined these ingredients into one recipe, and probably no one has since. Andrew Coletti November 14, 2023 Alchemists were a puzzling bunch. Take, for instance, this 1618 engraving by Matthaeus Merian the Elder, which is full of alchemical secrets encoded in complex symbols. secret 7 Puzzles That Perplexed People for Centuries From the secrets of Venice's codebreakers to China's intricately carved puzzle balls, these historical ciphers will inspire your curiosity. Sarah Durn May 3, 2022 A display at the Global Conference of Millets in 2023 featured a millet map of India. music In India, Music Helps Spread the Message of Millets New and ancient songs show that there's more to reviving a crop than planting seeds. Andrew Coletti June 17, 2024 [cGc] Video See the Mysterious Horned Helmet of Henry VIII 4:00 [YVN0aWxsMD] Video Explore the Ruins of a Medieval East African Empire 3:41 [aWxsMDQuan] Video * PinDrop This Statue of a Decomposing Prince Once Held His Actual Heart 1:15 [dGlsbCAwMS] Video * Wonder From Home Show & Tell: Inside a House of Hot Sauce With Vic Clinco 13:16 [NzA5MTggdj] Video * Gastro Obscura The Secret to China's Bounciest Meatballs 3:47 [anBn] Video * Gastro Obscura The Beautiful World of Microscopic Food 3:04 [cGc] Video * Gastro Obscura Eating Lunch 14,000 Feet Below Sea Level 3:07 [dG9fMDEuan] Video Gastro Obscura Tries: Olive Oil Coffee 5:56 Sponsored by Starbucks [Zw] Video The Little Slice of France and Spain in Nevada 4:12 Sponsored by Travel Nevada [V29uZGVyLm] Video All Roads Lead to Texas: Big Wonder 05:24 Sponsored by Travel Texas [IGVtb2ppXS] Video Why Your Michelin Star Meal Is Dog 8:02 More Food & Drink [blank-f2c3] Naples, Italy Via Port'Alba This 17th-century passageway is home to numerous bookshops, a witch legend, and the oldest pizzeria in the world. [blank-f2c3] Milan, Italy Bar Basso Sip a Negroni Sbagliato in the bar that invented it. [blank-f2c3] Pietragalla, Italy Parco Urbano dei Palmenti Though they look like Hobbit houses, these semi-underground stone structures were built for winemaking. The crostata, with the storefront in the background. Rome, Italy Pasticceria Boccione In Rome's Jewish ghetto, a 200-year-old bakery still makes the neighborhood's historic sweets. [blank-f2c3] Rome, Italy Garum Biblioteca e Museo Della Cucina Rome is now home to a stunning food museum and library. Want to see fewer ads? Become a Member. From Around the Web Atlas Obscura Trips Flavors of Italy: Roman Carbonara, Florentine Steak & Venetian Cocktails View This Trip See Fewer Ads Become an Atlas Obscura member and experience far fewer ads and no pop-ups. Learn More Get Our Email Newsletter [ ] Thanks for subscribing! View all newsletters >> [Submit] Follow Us * * * * * * Get the app Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play Download the App Places * All Places * Latest Places * Most Popular * Places to Eat * Random * Nearby * Add a Place Editorial * Stories * Food & Drink * Itineraries * Lists * Puzzles * Video * Podcast * Newsletters Trips * All Trips * Trips Blog * Art & Culture Trips * Food Trips * Hidden City Trips * History Trips * Wildlife & Nature Trips * FAQ Experiences * Experiences * Online Courses * Online Experience FAQ * Online Course FAQ * Eclipse Festival 2024 Community * Membership * Feedback & Ideas * Community Guidelines * Product Blog * Unique Gifts * Work With Us Company * About * Contact Us * FAQ * Invest In Us * Advertise With Us * Advertising Guidelines * Privacy Policy * Cookie Policy * Terms of Use (c) 2024 Atlas Obscura. All rights reserved. Questions or Feedback? Contact Us Thanks for sharing! Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Wild Life Cover Pre-Order Atlas Obscura: Wild Life Today! Venture into nature's unseen realms with our new book Wild Life. Explore hidden ecosystems & discover incredible species. Free luggage tag with every pre-order. Pre-Order Now! Wild Life Cover Add Some Wonder to Your Inbox Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. [ ] Subscribe No Thanks We'd Like You to Like Us Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. No Thanks [p] Quantcast ***