Topic: what bit is the Cor I get from Coriander ?

[Spice-as-Nice]

I make curries. Have been doing so for about the last 25 years. Always striving for that BIR taste of course. Like many I get it spot on now and again or when Leo is in Sagitarius during a full moon in the mist of time down in cloud cukoo land. Ive been getting it "righter" much more lately since joining this wonderful site and learning from everyone here , thank you.
The last two made here being uncryticalable by me or my 'commanding officer'. She being very satisfied indead.
My main problems in the past ( now better understood ) were that of using too much garlic and ginger ( ginger mostly ). Also not using enough coriander ( oh boy that was THE big mistake ). So , perhaps you are with me now when I say my attention has been focused somewhat over this last week on Coriander so whilst still pondering many aspects of the use of Coriander ( see now I am spelling it everytime with a capital 'C') in my cooking I have just one question to ask ( theres many more but i'll post this one just for now ) . After putting fresh Coriander in my pan ontop of the curry , little heat , a few seconds pass then serve up. I go and eat the curry. Every mouthfull ( bleedin lovely it is . Oh Yes ) has Coriander in it. Some of it is the Coriander powder I put in my spice mix and some is the fresh chopped Coriander leaves and stalks I sprinkled in just at the end of the curry cooking . Now then, I notice a BANG in my mouth of Coriander but not in every mouth full. It's in every mouth full because I can see it. But I only get the bang now and again. What im'e talking about by a bang it a total upwelling of flavour that hits my tastebuds and stimulates something in my brain. Now , everywhere I look and read , I only see mention of Coriander having a lemon type flavour. This is strange as I dont get that , either from my own curry's or from takaways. What I get can be best described as a "creamy vanilla" taste. It's not exactly that but I can't describe it any nearer im'e afraid. I really really hope some of you know what im'e talking about here. Now whats puzzling me is this , I can't understand why I don't get it in every mouthful. I know "it" is there in the background but I only get the insense taste say once in every 3 or 4 mouthfulls. This leaves me to believe that its only a certain part of the chopped Coriander thats giving me this zing , bang wollop. All I can say for now is that all of a sudden , after years of messing and experimenting im'e a very happy chap. So happy in fact that my sharing of my recent experiences with my grownup kids and close friends is causing something of an annoyance as I can't stop bleeting on about it. Please tell me , which bit of the Coriander is causing this *`/X)($^~: Wow. ?

[976bar]

I make curries. Have been doing so for about the last 25 years. Always striving for that BIR taste of course. Like many I get it spot on now and again or when Leo is in Sagitarius during a full moon in the mist of time down in cloud cukoo land. Ive been getting it "righter" much more lately since joining this wonderful site and learning from everyone here , thank you.
The last two made here being uncryticalable by me or my 'commanding officer'. She being very satisfied indead.
My main problems in the past ( now better understood ) were that of using too much garlic and ginger ( ginger mostly ). Also not using enough coriander ( oh boy that was THE big mistake ). So , perhaps you are with me now when I say my attention has been focused somewhat over this last week on Coriander so whilst still pondering many aspects of the use of Coriander ( see now I am spelling it everytime with a capital 'C') in my cooking I have just one question to ask ( theres many more but i'll post this one just for now ) . After putting fresh Coriander in my pan ontop of the curry , little heat , a few seconds pass then serve up. I go and eat the curry. Every mouthfull ( bleedin lovely it is . Oh Yes ) has Coriander in it. Some of it is the Coriander powder I put in my spice mix and some is the fresh chopped Coriander leaves and stalks I sprinkled in just at the end of the curry cooking . Now then, I notice a BANG in my mouth of Coriander but not in every mouth full. It's in every mouth full because I can see it. But I only get the bang now and again. What im'e talking about by a bang it a total upwelling of flavour that hits my tastebuds and stimulates something in my brain. Now , everywhere I look and read , I only see mention of Coriander having a lemon type flavour. This is strange as I dont get that , either from my own curry's or from takaways. What I get can be best described as a "creamy vanilla" taste. It's not exactly that but I can't describe it any nearer im'e afraid. I really really hope some of you know what im'e talking about here. Now whats puzzling me is this , I can't understand why I don't get it in every mouthful. I know "it" is there in the background but I only get the insense taste say once in every 3 or 4 mouthfulls. This leaves me to believe that its only a certain part of the chopped Coriander thats giving me this zing , bang wollop. All I can say for now is that all of a sudden , after years of messing and experimenting im'e a very happy chap. So happy in fact that my sharing of my recent experiences with my grownup kids and close friends is causing something of an annoyance as I can't stop bleeting on about it. Please tell me , which bit of the Coriander is causing this *`/X)($^~: Wow. ?

Could it be that after one mouthful of coriander which explodes the taste buds in you're mouth, need a little time before they explode again? hence the 4 or 5 mouthfuls of curry before repeating the process?

[PaulP]

My guess is the corriander stems - they retain more flavour than the leaves after sitting in a hot sauce.

[Cory Ander]

My guess is the corriander stems

I agree, they seem to be particulalry sweet and flavoursome

[joshallen2k]

Agree with Paul and CA... its the crunch of biting into a stem. They do indeed tend to 'explode' with flavour.

[JerryM]

Spice as Nice,

i've always added the fresh coriander with the base (not at the end or as a garnish). this for me gets the favour evenly spread. might be worth a try.

[Spice-as-Nice]

Thanks all , Concensus is it's the stem. I also have put some finely chopped up fresh in the curry as it's coocking then some more less chopped in the final moments as served. I just couldn't understand why I didn't get the flavour peaks in every spoonful. Yes, its there in the background in every part but not that "highlight" you get now and again. As I say , I get the same effect with bought curries. either takeaway or sit in. Actually , I like it that way. It holds a suspense for each mouthful which of course makes the meal interesting.

[chinois]

I suppose it's bcos the stem retains it's structure so the inside of the stem hasnt been affected by the heat of the sauce yet. It will if you cook it long enough though.
These flavour bursts can be used as a positive to add excitement (albeit not full blown excitement) to the curry. Other examples would be sliced spring/green onion, whole cumin or coriander seeds, nuts and raisins.
Whole spices work really well in onion bhajis i find.

[Spice-as-Nice]

Oooo, this has been a long time coming. Its the ROOT of the plant "the white bit" at base of stem as it joins the root. Also the ROOT. If I can ...I buy it on the root these days. Wash off any soil. So, now you know. If you have root, don't discard it. Cut it fine. Use it.

[livo]

So you've been eating curries for 10 years and suddenly find out it's the root.  I have read before in some base gravy recipe to use the whole coriander plant, ie; leaf, stem and root.  I can't recall which one though.