Cilantro is a down-home herb with a far-flung pedigree

Cilantro is to Mexican food what fuel is to a race car.

It has become the factor I use to grade Mexican restaurants, and woe to the grocery store that fails to stock fresh cilantro for my own fajitas and pico de gallo.

As a further testament to the zest cilantro provides, it is also known as Chinese parsley and is used in Middle Eastern and Asian cuisine. The mildly narcotic seed, known as coriander, is popular in pickles, liqueurs, curries, and ratatouille. The root is added to curries, and the stems go in beans and soups. Cilantro was even considered an Egyptian aphrodisiac.

Because of the popularity of Mexican food, the English word coriander is now being overshadowed by the Spanish word cilantro. Would you believe that Americans now consume more salsa annually than they do ketchup? The growth of the Mexican sauce market has been staggering since the late 1980s.

The good news for gardeners is that cilantro is easily grown from seeds in well-prepared gardens, so you don't have to search every grocery store in five counties. Believe me when I say there is no substitute for its flavor, and it grows so fast you may want to sow multiple or succession crops to keep it around all season.

It is also good as a pot or container plant. Last year, I saw a wonderful tub filled with cilantro, tomatoes, and peppers - everything needed for a tasty salsa.

In the garden, sow seeds a half-inch deep in rows 12 to 18 inches apart. The plants will reach 18 to 24 inches tall. You can cut the leaves for fresh cilantro or harvest the whole plant when seeds are ripe, as the fruits begin to turn gray brown.

Harvest fresh, tender leaves from the top, and cut several inches down to bring on rapid new growth. You can prune the central stalk as it develops, which will help delay flower formation a little, but you'd best have some new seedlings already growing to ensure a continual supply.

I like to smoke eight to 10 chicken leg quarters for about three hours or until just barely done. Then I cut the meat into small pieces and place them in a foil roasting pan. I include 11/2 large bell peppers, one large chopped onion, chopped jalapeños (the amount depending on how wimpy the guests are), and a half-cup of chopped cilantro.

I then cook it directly over the coals until the vegetables become cooked. Place on flour tortillas with refried beans, guacamole, cheese, and homemade salsa and you have mouthwatering homemade fajitas.

If you like Mexican food but haven't tried growing cilantro, get a package of seeds and plant this weekend. Once cold fall weather arrives, get ready to start small pots to be grown in brightly lighted areas indoors.