[marmalady]

Hi, Pongi - Cilantro is a variety of the coriander plant, only you just use the leaves, not the seeds as you do coriander. It doesn't taste anything like coriander seeds. If you've had Indian food, you might have had cilantro on or in it. The Indians make a 'coriander chutney' which is actually a 'cilantro chutney'. The leaves look similar to Italian flat leaf parsley.

The taste is a little bitter, and sharp - folks usually either love or hate it (one woman told me she thought it tasted like dirty dish water, although how she knew what dirty dish water tasted like I don't know!). It's also used extensively in Mexican/Caribbean/South American dishes, both as a flavoring agent and garnish.

I make pretty traditional Mexican type salsas, as I said, and these are mostly all uncooked salsas, although I have seen some cooked ones. You're right, though that the tomato is the king of this sauce - without a good tomato product, you just have a watered down salsa.

I have a question for you, Pongi, regarding the canned San Marzano tomatoes - what are they usually packed in, in Italy? A lot of the canned tomatoes here are packed in a tomato puree, and it seems the manufacturers use a lot of it for 'filler' in the can, so they don't have to put as many tomatoes in!