Cilantro << sih LON troh >> is an herb used in cooking . It is a name used for the stems and lacy leaves of a plant called coriander . In some regions, people call cilantro fresh coriander or coriander leaves. In the United States and Canada, coriander typically refers to the plant’s dried seeds, which are used as a spice .
Coriander grows wild in southern Europe and is popular around the Mediterranean Sea . People around the world grow the plant in greenhouses, gardens, and pots for use as cilantro.
Cilantro serves as a common ingredient in Latin American, Middle Eastern, and South Asian cooking. Cooks typically use it as a garnish. Cilantro is also often mixed into dips and sauces, including salsa and guacamole.
To most people, cilantro has a light, citrusy flavor. But to some people, it has a soapy, rotten taste. The difference may be partly genetic (inherited). Certain clusters of genes (the chemical units of inheritance) make a person more sensitive to the odor—and thus the taste—of soapy-tasting chemicals called aldehydes , which are present in cilantro.
