Curse of the (Curly) Parsley.

Ok, I admit! I am becoming a Food Network regular. I frequently watch Alton Brown; lap up Rachel Ray, bite my nails over Cake competitions and Top Chef, and randomly flick my TV to Channel 70 if I’m bored. I am a food junkie, and everyone who knows me very well will tell the others (who scoff at my petite frame) that this is, in fact, true. But we are deviating... It was supposed to be all about Parsley... Alright, Halloween nears, and you might think my imagination is running wild when I titled this the Curse of the Curly Parsley. But no, I do consider it a curse. Pray let me explain:

It all started with me watching quite a few people prepare dishes with Parsley on the network, and go about praising its ‘strong fresh flavor, the earthy tones, and the aroma it blends into a cold salad’. Now what we must keep in mind though, is the fact that I am a complete desi-food cook. But yet, I do not give up hope. Ignoring the cilantro (which has always been my top-herb - I still find saying ‘erb funny!) wilting in my fridge, I decide that I simply MUST try parsley out. Add to all the hype the fact that parsley does wonders for a fresh breath and blah blah... And then, like a cursed soul, I kept thinking about parsley quite a bit, imagining the heady scent of it, when I would chop it into fine fresh pieces (can we call them pieces!??).

One impatient week later, I jump onto the pretext of an important Devon shopping spree (for what? Some munchies, asafetida and paneer) and decide that today I WILL end up buying an entire bunch (and some cilantro, of course.. now we do not want to offend ‘the’ cilantro, do we?) to try. Shopping done, all pleased with myself, I come home and wait for the next day when I’d prepare something with the herb.

So I go about browsing the internet for recipes incorporating the stuff sitting in my fridge, and end up with zilch. So I decide, ok, let me make semiya upma (another thing I decided to pick up from Devon with my random aisle-walking... Semiya!! And heck, this was already roasted, how cool is that?) and instead of garnishing it with cilantro in the end, maybe I should just chop up the herb and let its flavor do the trick. Upma is a roaring success (hoo-haa, my first time, and its b-e-a-u-tiful) and now comes the garnish. And I retrieve the stuff from the fridge, chop it up, and decide to smell it before I put it in my Upma!

EEEEWWWWW! This is not the smell I want with my Upma?! It is strong! Now I know why Wiki says it is used as garnish in a lot of fish and meat dishes. So, there goes... And they say that curly parsley is the less strong of the two (curly vs. flat, that is) Now I understand, why moms never did use parsley in our cooking at home! But, do I give up? No. I will still make that cold salad recipe with onions, tomatoes, lime, cilantro and parsley... You just wait, I will.

But for now, parsley’s back in the fridge, sitting right next to the cilantro. That makes me think... what if it was the Cilantro that pulled one over the Parsley? Maybe it’s the curse of the Cilantro?! Hmm...