Cilantro is one of those herbs that have come into its own with the onset of the popularity of ethnic cuisines. While most of us `foodies` would have known cilantro several years back, we may not have been familiar with it, in anything but Mexican food. However, this is certainly not the case now. We see cilantro not only in salsas, but also in curries, salads and rice dishes from India, Thailand and South Africa, just to mention a few.

Cilantro, like most herbs prefers a sunny location in well-drained soil. To me it is like flat-leaf parsley but with an amazing scent and flavour. When cilantro is grown and in the herb stage it is cilantro, and when it goes to seed, the seeds are coriander. I like to plant it every couple of weeks so I can harvest it all summer long. One precaution: try to plant some in a slightly shady spot as the season goes on, because once it gets warm it has a tendency to bolt and go to seed. When this does happen I just leave the plants until the seeds have formed and dried out a bit and then I harvest them. This way I get great fresh coriander seeds.