TGRWT #3: Strawberries and coriander

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It’s time for the third round of the They go really well together food blogging event (TGRWT #3). Ingredients to pair this time are strawberry and coriander (coriander sativum, also known as cilantro in North America). You can use fresh leaves, whole seeds or ground seeds – it’s all your choice. Deadline is July 1st, so there’s still a couple of weekends left for you to do some experimental cooking. This round is hosted by Evelin at Bounteous bites, so check out her post with instructions on how to participate! She will also post a round-up in due time. And in case you’ve missed it, Tara has posted the round-up of TGRWT #2 featuring banana and parsley.

The first place I saw this combination mentioned at eGullet in a post by Heston Blumenthal. Six impact odorants have been identified for strawberry juice:

(Z)-3-hexenal (green)
2,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone (caramel-like, sweet)
methyl butanoate (fruity)
ethyl butanoate (fruity)
methyl 2-methylpropanoate (fruity)
2,3-butanedione (buttery)

The paper “Character-impact aroma components of coriander (Coriandrum sativum) herb” by Cadwallader et al. (couldn’t find any link for this) presented at the 5th Chemical Congress of North America lists (Z)-3-hexenal (green/cut-grass) as an impact odorants based on AEDA (aroma extraction dilution analysis), so there is at least one overlap between the impact odorants of strawberry and coriander (shown below). Please let me know if you should find odor activity values (OAV) for the volatile compounds in coriander. A search at The Good Scents Company also gives many hits for strawberry and coriander.

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If you have a hard time finding inspiration for this round, how about Mousses de fraises í  la coriandre, Cupcake, Strawberry grapefruit dressing, Strawberry salsa or Strawberry spring rolls?

Good luck!

11 Comments

  1. Well I gave the strawberry/coriander mousse link you gave, and i was slightly disappointed with the result. The strawberry taste was very nice, but the coriander just didn’t come through. Perhaps more next time, or a drizzle of coriander leaf oil on the top. Just needs something to accentuate the coriander taste.

    I’ll have a go at coming up with something else. I was thinking of a strawberry and coriander cream enrobed in chocolate, maybe with a candied coriander leaf on top.

  2. I tried this combo on numerous occasions some years ago and did not think much of it. It is not completely horrible but that is not good enought to force it upon dinner guests. Strawberries are much nicer with various kinds of basil, mint and. if correctly balanced with tarragon. Black pepper och makrut lime leaves are nice too.

  3. Success!! I had a little experiment with strawberry and coriander as a canapé at college the other day, and I can reveal it pleased and surprised even the most conservative of my guinea pigs. I made a standard sugar syrup (50:50 sugar and water) which I infused with a handful of coriander stalks. I’m sure you already know that the majority of the flavour in coriander is found in the stalks, not in the leaves themselves. I tasted the syrup and to my delight it had the amazingly recognisable aroma and flavour of coriander. I then lightly poached some diced strawberries in the syrup, which gave it their flavour and wonderfully sensual colour. I then combined the poached strawberries with some finely chopped coriander leaves and placed spoonfuls of the mix onto round canapé spoons. Each spoonful was then topped with a thin slice of fresh strawberry and a single coriander leaf, which I then glazed with a little of the syrup. I really enjoy trying new things and I do get a bit fed up with being labelled Blumen Hestonthal every day at college, so it gives me such satisfaction when I get the opportunity to use my curiosity and skills to prove to people that experiments like this are not merely gimmicks or novelties. Thanks for the inspiration!

  4. Hi Martin,
    it’s really great, combinate Strawberries and Coriander, but also nice, extend it with Green Tea. Recipe will follow, if I have try it in another version: with foam of Green Tea and Green Coriander. Have a look on my blog.

    best regards
    Klaus

  5. I made a pizzadilla today using flour Tortillas instead of pizza dough, i started with cilantro pesto, then added Manchego chesse, a bit of roasted pine nuts, some Rose petals, and i served it with a strawberry sauce. It was a huge success at my restaurant.

  6. made cilanro ice cream, fried some tortillas dressed with sugar and cinnamon, and made a pear, stawberry, and cilantro salsa and mixed in a little mojito jello cubes

    Made it look like a chips and salsa platter with a little guacamole, pretty big hit

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