I’m a simple person.
Well, no. That’s not exactly true, but what I’m about to divulge may have you shaking your head and muttering, “That Pearl. I didn’t realize she was so simple.”
I just wanted to beat ya to the punch.
Do you remember your first encounter with cilantro? I do. There it was, adrift in a bowl of pico de gallo. “Hullo,” I said to myself, having briefly picked up a “British” accent by way of the book I had been reading, “what’s this?”
And there it was, the taste that, like cumin and buffalo sauce before it, added a previously unknown depth of flavor to my taste-budly world. Much like the first Metallica album or the stark realization that I cannot wear a “skinny” jean without my lower extremities looking like denim-encased turkey legs, the first taste of cilantro blew the lid off my little coarsely-haired head.
My mother wrinkles her nose in distaste. “Tastes like soap,” she says.
Look at her over there, all refined and ladylike, maker of the world’s best gravies and flakiest crusts. She is absolutely wrong, and there’s no way to tell her without risking my rightful share of them…
And so, it is with my being absolutely right on the subject of the deliciousness of cilantro, cumin, and buffalo sauce that I come to you with another mind-blowing foray into uncharted foods.
Salt. On an apple.
Is it wrong? Is it wrong to crave salt, to pair it with the tart, crispness of an apple, to chortle indulgently while the juice runs down your chin?
Well, yes. That last bit? Yes. That’s wrong. Let’s not be undignified.
But now that I’ve linked salt with apple and found it to be delish, now what? Is the combination of salt and apple the gateway to other odd and seemingly contradictory couplings?
I mean, my sister forced – forced! – me to slather chocolate frosting on saltine crackers once, and that didn’t affect me much, right? I mean, it’s true that the combination of frosting and crackers forced me to re-think my stance on my parents’ cream-cheese-jalapeno-Ritz-cracker offering the last holiday season, and then there was the peanut-butter-potato-chip-sandwich that was passed around at that one party…
Don’t look at me like that.
I can quit any time I want to.
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54 comments:
I had never heard of Cilantro till a couple years ago and now it is in everything. Kinda like Chipotle.
I used to hate peanut butter so I did Mayo on crackers. Yea I know.
There is a resturarant near here that serves a sandwich called the "Elvis 2011". It is peanutbutter and jelly with banana and Chocolate covered bacon betwixt two slices of bread.
It aint too shabby either.
:-) Kind of like how every restaurant had a "baked potato bar". And that sandwich? So help me, I'd try it...
Love the cilantro! Just wish that I could keep it alive in my garden, but then I am one of the few people who can kill mint.
I haven't tried salt on my apples, but I have heard of it. Mostly, I stick to almond butter on my apples.
Apple and salt YES! I BELIEVE. No longer a doubter even though I, too am sorta simple.
There are two substances known to mankind, that are capable of being paired with any type of foodstuff.
Nutella, and Bacon.
Do not however, put the Nutella on the Bacon, or the sheer awesomeness of the combination will result in a rip in the space time continuum. You have been warned.
It's not quite salt on an apple, but a slice of a good aged sharp cheddar on a slice of apple, nom nom.
Russ, wait, what?! Almond butter on apples??? Oh, so help me, Russ...
Leenie, it's twoo! It's twoo!! :-)
20prospect, Oooooh. There's another one: Nutella. Holy Hannah, I first had Nutella about 10 years ago and it was another case of "where in the world have I been that I haven't had this before?" And Nutella on bacon?! If you don't hear from me tomorrow it will be because I put the two together...
I am a salter of watetmelon from way back who still gets disapproving stares. Saltidarity!
Joshua, oh, that's true. My grandma served really good cheddar with apple pie.
Shoot. I'm getting hungry...
Yeah, that was supposed to be "watermelon." Damn tiny smartphone keyboard.
Cotonee, watermelon?! That's just weird. :-)
Oh. And YOINK! That's the sound of me stealing your word. "Saltidarity" indeed. :-)
Salt on melons and apples since I was a kid. Can't live in the desert SW and not know cilantro.
Peanutbutter and bacon sandwiches. Will have to try the Nutella and bacon.
My husband puts salt on apples. Personally, I find apples to be perfect on their own. But peanut butter spread on a Hershey bar...that's sheer heaven!
'Much like the first Metallica album or the stark realization that I cannot wear a “skinny” jean without my lower extremities looking like denim-encased turkey legs, the first taste of cilantro blew the lid off my little coarsely-haired head.'
I am now following your blog based on that excellent sentence, alone.
And I'm totally going to try salted apple.
Try some good, salty pretzels dipped in honey and you'll never be the same.
I love cilantro!! Couldn't do without it. Tastes like soap?! Say it ain't so! I can't imagine that someone wouldn't like the stuff.
I don't dig salt and apples but I do eat half a lemon with salt on occasion. I just sit on my couch with a salt shaker in one paw and lemon in the other. Slurp slurp.
I'm salivating here. Jeez.
Denise, I knew about salt on cantaloupe, so how salt on apples eluded me all these years is beyond me. And cilantro? In Minnesota?! There are a lot of lovely things assoicated with immigration, and the foods that come with them is just one. YUM.
Eva, :-) this whole post is just making me hungry...
Suze, Now I'm hungry and very happy. :-)
vhf159, I'll do it. I've been getting kind of tired of myself anyway. :-)
Crystal, I know! My very own mother!! (I've actually heard other people say this as well, but I'm pretty sure they're all wrong... And the lemon and salt? I could totally do that. Next time the lemons are looking good I'm going to get one, salt 'er up, and report back to you. Mmmm. Pucker. :-)
ooo, i discovered cilantro a few years ago & have had a love affair with it ever since. though, when i cook with it now, it makes me think of sex. because while chopping it up with my daughter one day, the birds & the bees talk suddenly descended upon us without warning & now the smell of cilantro is directly tied to that moment.
apples with peanut butter are delicious. and in a sandwich together? mmm, mmm good!
This will no doubt make everyone cringe, but a lemon slice with ketchup..?? Totally delicious and tastes like the best, juiciest orange you'll ever eat. Really. It must be a taste bud thing of mixing odd flavors together to make an entirely new one..
Dad used to put salt on watermelon....I don't know, you have to try it for yourself. Cilantro...I'm with your mom on that one.
After years of buying different spices and then throwing them away, unused, five years later, I have come to the sad conclusion that I will only ever use salt, pepper, and onion powder. It's cheaper this way at least.
On the other hand, chocolate and peanut butter can be used no end of different delightful delicious ways.
I love cilantro. I make a potent pico de gallo with habaneros. our friend puts it on top of dry Cheerios and eats it. REALLY odd combo...
Chocolate covered potato chips. Just saying.
I agree with your Mother, cilantro tastes like soap!
Apples and peanut butter. Yum. My children were appalled. Now their children eat.....apples and peanut butter. Sweet revenge.
Everything sounded great...I have cilantro cubes from Trader Joe's in my freezer. Just pop one out when I need the kick it brings!
Yay~
I'm glad I don't have the "cilantro tastes like soap" defective gene because this leafy green brings me great joy
Hmm, makes me wonder why all these people have been eating soap.
Cilantro is good.
I feel bad for all cilantro haters.
Sweet and salty are good. Why do people pool the flavors of prosciutto and melon? Caramel macchiato and sea salt? Coke and popcorn?
The right balance of sweet and salty is perfection.
You gonna eat all that?
My dad always put salt on apple slices. I tried it and liked it, but I prefer cheddar cheese with apples. I don't remember eating cilantro but now I will have to try it. I think my craziest combo is Coke with a splash of French Vanilla coffee.
The southern wifey got me hooked on watermelon with salt and I loves it if I say so. In return and to thank her for the new addiction I introduced her to German porn...a fair trade if I do say so.
Cilantro is yuumay! Speshully in scrambled eggs. I don't salt the fruit, and I don't fruit the beer. But I do put ketchup on plain chips when I can get away with it (read: when my wife isn't around).
Oh, Pearl, I am so glad you filled that void in your life. Had I known you were unaware of the pleasures of the salted apple, I would have clued you in sooner. As a seven-year-old child, I wandered around the yard, apple in left hand, salt shaker in right.
But, better late than never!
salt on apples doesn't strike me nearly as weird as salt on watermelon.
Cilantro, can't cook without it.
Salt and apple...yummy!
My cousins introduced me to cheddar cheese, on crackers with jam on top. Mmmm....
We'd get along fine.
Mmm. Cilantro. Apple and salt? Okay, this is where I get out my family geek - My Dad eats apples with salt. And also watermelon with salt. Me? I stick to anything with cheese on it. Or chocolate. You put chocolate on hubcap, I'd eat it!
SIMPLy delightful!
It's Pearl-escent
Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
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Cilantro - or coriander as we call it in the home of the English language ;-) - is a gentle herb.
As for mixing flavours, try kippers and marmalade, Christmas or fruit cake or ginger cake and cheese,gin and cucumber, kedgeree and mustard - we all have our favourites:-)
I'm quite partial to honey on boobs.
What?
recently in North Carolina I bought a jar of FROG jam. Don't get too excited the 'F' stands for Fig.
But I'll warn you don't try mustard mixed into milk. I did that combo as a kid once and the awful memory still remains in my brain.
Nup. Not a fan of cilantro (which we call coriander). Use the seeds happily. The leaves are devil food and taint everything they touch.
cilantro we of course use every day! We also add salt, preferably black salt or rock salt to fruits and make a fruit chaat...simply delish!!
Cilantro to me tastes like licorice and I detest licorice in any way, shape or form. I once thought licorice might be an acquired taste, like good scotch. So, I tried to consume it. Scotch worked much better in that regard.
Ah, Coriander! :¬)
As for salty apples, great with roast pork.
And for dessert, fresh strawberries sprinkled with black pepper. YUM! :¬)
xxx
My, my! Our overseas 'cousins', dontyerknow, have some pretty strange eating habits!
Salt on apples?
Insane!
Everyone in the 'homeland' realises that you should only pepper your apples, y'see, y'see!
Sorry Pearl but I'm with your mother on this one...nearly! Not just soap...Old Soap! (that cracked and streaky kind, laced with tracks of mould and smelling like a cross between old cheese, socks and vomit)
I don't like cilantro (coriander) in any form.
Have you tried salt on an orange? A friend I worked with once said that's the only way to eat oranges.
My brother and I used to get home from school, thickly butter a slice of bread and sprinkle it with salt to eat as we played. Real butter, not that margarine stuff.
Please don't spread this abroad. To my despair MTL puts salt on everything - except apples.
BTW there are people in the UK who eat chip sandwiches - which I can never get my head round.
Heh, here are two more combos you must try - both curtesy of the People's Republic of China and both strangely delish.
Tomatoes - with icing sugar sprinkled on. Why not? Toms are a fruit after all.
Potatoes - with toffee. You've heard of toffee-apples? It's the same, but with cooked potatoes. In Xi'an (home of the legendary Terracotta army) it's a local delicacy. I've had it and it's lovely.
Grapes and cream cheese....
Oh and chilli powder on limes.... :D
I'm another fan of the aged cheddar with an apple. Or with grapes. As long as it ends up in my belly, I'm fine. :) Also, cheese and jam sandwiches were a big favorite of mine as a kid. Don't judge. They are GOOD.
Potato chips and peanut butter??? OMG, Pearl, I think I gained another pound just reading that!
I've never yet tried pepper with strawberries but Marmite and crunchy peanut butter sandwiches are brilliant - as are crisps with grated cheddar. (Except I've a feeling you call crisps something else and I can't think what!)
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