Coriander is probably native to the Middle East and southern Europe, but has also been known in Asia and the Orient for millennia. It is found wild in Egypt and the Sudan, and sometimes in English fields. The seed is now produced in Russia, India, South America, North Africa and in Holland. It was introduced to Britain by the Romans, who used it in cookery and medicine and was Widely used in English cookery until the Renaissance.

The commonest use of coriander is in curry powders, where it is the bulkiest constituent. The seeds can be used in stews and soups. They blend well with smoked meats and game and feature in traditional English black pudding recipes and Italian mortadella sausage. Coriander is an ingredient of garam masala, pickling spices and is used in cakes, breads and other baked foods. Coriander compliments chili and is included in many chili recipes such as harissa, the hot North African red pepper sauce.

A herbaceous hardy annual, of the parsley family, occassionally surviving into second year. Its height averages 60cm. Its erect slender stems are branching and bright green. The small pink, pale blue or white flowers are borne in compound umbels. The upper leaves are wispy and finely divided, the lower ones broad, undivided and trilobate.

Coriander is grown from seeds. It prefers warm dry conditions. For seed, it is sown in the spring, needing little maintenance. Harvested in about ninety days as soon as seeds are ripe and before they drop. An indication of ripeness is that the seeds aroma turns pleasant. For the leaf, the seeds are sown during the summer.