#2 - Cilantro

March 19th, 2008

Cilantro divides the populace. Come the idioacracy, there will be an anti-cilantro political party. Some say it tastes of soap, while I say it would make a good replacement for lettuce in a salad. I’ve grown the stuff in a small garden, which is a labor one does out of respect for the genetic well being of a species that is loved.

It started with some initial experimentation with those rice wraps in Vietnamese restaurants. I didn’t question anything, I just ate the goodness. There was tripe in some of the food, so I wasn’t questioning anything else. It was good, end of story. “There is no why.”

The kick in the stomach realization that I loved this plant came in Omaha. I was attending meetings down at one of my company’s factories there, and was staying at a hotel in the middle of a big box retail center. To eat, there was a restaurant called ‘Beijing’, a Red Lobster, a Cracker Barrel (marketed as an old timey eat what pioneers eat restaurant), McDonalds, Burger Kings with triple patty burgers, and an Applebees. The Blackened Catfish at Lobster was good, but not every day for two weeks good. So I went exploring.

I found a taco van! Hey, Mexico! That country where Heuvos Rancheros comes from. Perfect!

Now, I’m Canadian, so the only Spanish I ever heard was from movies filmed in Spain. And I know some French. This linguistic background leaves one wanting for speech when you’re one is in front of a Taco truck in Nebraska. I read the menu, and tried to remember everything I could about Spanish pronunciation so I could order something good. Canada has zero good Mexican restaurants, and it was back to borscht, beer, and Kit Kat candy bars when I got back.

What did I knew of the language? It has alot of rolling r’s; masa is corn; une, deux, trois, uhm… unos, dos, treize, I think; voudrais, uhm… voudrados? FAIL. I panicked, and ordered “Dos Tacos”. And some tondres y una ‘pouvre / pepper’, please.

“Dos Tacos” was this: fresh corn tortilla, seasoned meat of some variety, and the reason for this post… Cilantro. Perfect. It reminded me of that plant in those rice wraps. Crunchy, watery, fresh, greeny, tangy, wonderful cilantro.

I did the research, and discovered that I am a lover of Cilantro. I think it means I like conflict. I also like good tasting plants.

Entry Filed under: Food