To think DW should be able to tell the difference between parsley and coriander?

[NeanderChap]

DW is very lovely, but has a small blind spot: she cannot tell the difference between parsley and coriander.

I find this very, very difficult to understand.

She tries, but somehow always gets the wrong one, generally coriander. I have run 'round the corner for a replacement countless times. Unfortunately the two do not substitute well for each other.

We're equally keen cooks, so this affects both of us.

Am I being unreasonable to think that anybody should be able to work this one out? Does this happen to anyone else?

• Bemused Husband

You are talking flat leaf parsely I take it and not retro curly stuff?

Easy mistake for some but unforgivable in keen cook.

She must eitherr read or taste-pref. both.

Can't she pick the one she thinks is parsley, say, then knows she gets it wrong and pick the other one? It's like one of those doors puzzles...

Smell would do it, though - both v distinctive.

Divorce her. Nobody should have to cope with that.

Grow your own and then you will always have access. Granted coriander doesn't grow so well in winter, but parsley will keep on giving....

Aren't they labelled in the shop? Or in your herb garden?
Even if she can't tell the difference by sight, smell or taste, presumably she can read a label, or ask the seller.

Yesterday at the corner shop:

I think you should batter her within an inch of her life

LOL, i did think that too Goblin

You think you have it bad? I sent my DH to the supermarket for the fixings of a steak dinner..y'know steak(obviously), potatoes to make chips, corn on the cob, onions and mushrooms.

I unpacked the bags and asked him why he'd bought 7 bulbs of garlic?

He replied.....'Are those not mushrooms then?'

I kid you not.

Literacy is so important.
Read The Labels.

OP in future you do all the cooking where parsley/coriander is required. Problem solved

Btw what's the difference?

Coriander smells like coconutty washing up liquid.

Parsley doesn't.

You have my permission to print this out and present it to her as a handy crib sheet.

You're welcome.

Thanks ladies.

Not labelled in our local shops. We had a lot of luck growing herbs this year (first with a garden) but not tried parsley yet. Coriander always dies on me.

June2009 Oh my goodness.

AnyFawker: I don't batter anything - no deep fat fryer.

ChaoticAngel: Sounds like a plan! (Usually I want parsley for my things and she wants coriander for hers, but things go wrong both ways)

tawdryhepburn Thank you.

OP, you sound an absolute bundle of fun and laughter

Not labelled? Ask the seller.

parsley and coriander, hah, that's nothing. Dh thinks leeks are chives and will not be convinced either. He did back down a bit once and admit that they might be spring onions.

No! They are leeks. Chives look entirely different.

I could kill my DH

He just cannot tell the difference between mash and Smash

What do you think I should do about this very irritating blind spot he has ? Is divorce the only option ?

NeanderChap is my DH so I must respond.

I can get it right when I am in Tesco's where it is labeled, but not at our local corner shop where it is not.

HabiBooo I tried that technique today and still got it wrong. I'd blame it on baby brain (am 32+5 today) except I had the same blind spot before I was pregnant.

Perhaps the solution is to go to Tesco's and buy the labeled ones to teach myself the difference. I honestly can't tell.

I cook a lot of curries, I sent DP once to the shop for cinammon sticks. CINAMMON STICKS. He came back with some nutmeg. I serioudly think he just thought 'oh that'll do' and threw it in the basket. Perhaps you wife thinks the same, 'oh get grumpy bollocks some green stuff' and then thinks about something she finds more interesting

My DH has the same problem LLKH so you are not alone!

Oh, AF, you've just put me in mind of that smash advert they used to show on tv with the alien thingys

I have to admit that, on the rare occasion I attempt to cook, I just chuck in whatever jar of dried herbs comes out of the cupboard

I hasten to add that I don't chuck the actual jar in, just some of the herbs out of said jar

parsley has more of a pointed leaf, coriander is more rounded, if that helps?

come to think of it, DH does have a maniacal laugh