Comments on: Chaulafan Addiction

By: Lydia Martin

Lydia Martin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:03:42 +0000

Well, some good and bad news about cilantro, according to some cursory Googling: It seems it’s an aphrodisiac. (Who knew?) But it’s also an appetite stimulant. (Que pena.) And supposedly “people of European descent” are turned off by the taste and smell.

Seems it possesses strong love/hate qualities.

I could juice it and sit in a bath of it.

By: JC Espinosa

JC Espinosa — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:48:23 +0000

First, the cilantro. I am allergic. It has gotten more and more difficult to eat out in Miami where even cuisines where the evil weed is unknown are putting it into their food. Perricone’s! Italian! I always ask and for the skeptical I remind them that having el rescue at their place of business and a lawsuit alleging attempted manslaughter by herb is something they would want to avoid.

I have had chaufa/chaufalan in Guayaquil and Lima in several variations all yummy and only one with any cilantro at all. Of course I asked first.

In Lima, Xavier and I decided to go to a museum dedicated to pornographic ceramics – dirty huacos. I saw some stuff depicted I wish I had thought of first. After we detumesced (is that a verb?), we walked up the street to a Chifa restaurant. We went up the stairs and got a table on a big terrace. We ordered chaufa, mariposas (forgot what they called them) and cold beers. The savory rice, the brilliant colors of the ingredients, the spiciness made fizzy on our tongues by the cold beer and our conversation about the naughty things made it a special day in Lima.

Chifa

By: cami

cami — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:03:48 +0000

I’m with you Lydia Martin. I LOVE ME SOME CILANTRO LONG TIME!

By: hungrysofia

hungrysofia — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:37:32 +0000

Maybe because it looks so much like parsley but doesn’t disappear in the same way. I love it because it’s sunny as opposed to other herbs that are earthy. Not very scientific I know but I love the way it brightens something heavy like fried rice.

By: Lydia Martin

Lydia Martin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:28:52 +0000

Fried rice with cilantro? OMG. It just so happens that I’m in the middle of a cilantro obsession. Why is it that some people love cilantro and some people absolutely hate it?