Premium Whole Coriander Seeds

More importantly perhaps than what coriander is, is how it's used in cooking. Coriander seeds and their use are well recorded in Latin American and Mexican cuisines, posole, enchiladas, and even commonly found in many Indian curry dishes. The seeds can be added whole to many dishes and simmered in things like soups or sauces, ideally added toward the beginning of cooking to give them time to soften and release their flavor. If you'd like to remove the whole seeds before serving, tie them in a muslin cloth or add them to a tea strainer for easy removal. They can also be lightly toasted in a pan or oven, then ground fresh and added directly to a dish, rub, soup, or sauce to really bring out the flavor, or tempered briefly in warm oil to release their natural aromatic oils before the rest of a dish is built on top.

Often toasted before grinding or used in pickling to bring out its flavor, coriander is most commonly used in soups, spice rubs, curries, garam masala, and meats like beef, lamb, chicken, and more. Coriander goes great with other spices like bay leaves, cumin, chili peppers, garlic, nutmeg, fennel, orange, lemon, and even lime zest.

Coriander and cilantro come from the exact same plant, Coriandrum sativum, they're just different parts of it. Cilantro refers to the fresh leaves and stems, with their bright, herbaceous, almost soapy flavor that some people love and others can't stand. Coriander refers to the dried seeds, which taste nothing like the leaves, warm, citrusy, and nutty rather than green and herbaceous. If a recipe calls for coriander and you only have fresh cilantro on hand (or vice versa), they aren't good substitutes for each other, the flavors are simply too different.