Cilantro Soup!

Imagining a potential event at the Ruth Reichl Cooking School....

Originally posted by Belle (then carlakeet) on the FoodNetwork Barefoot Contessa comments board, 3 July 2004.

Here's my entry for the "Entertaining Ina" contest. I figure this is one event that Ina, the woman who has been everywhere and done everything, has never attended.

THE FIRST EVER CILANTRO CONFERENCE

The world is divided into people who love cilantro – and those who don’t. How can we bridge the difference between the two? Should we even try? This conference will examine this much-misunderstood herb from a variety of perspectives. Learn the surprising answers to questions such as, If it’s native to Southern Europe why do they call it Chinese Parsley?, and much, much more.

Lecture topics include:
Basil & Cilantro: Not Interchangeable
Cilantro is in the Carrot Family: You Like Carrots Don’t You?
Pungent, Not Soapy: Public Relations Perspectives on Cilantro
No Tasting! Italian Parsley and Chinese Parsley at the Market: Can You Tell the Difference?
End the Confusion!: The Case for Renaming Cilantro Coriander

Featured Luncheon Speaker:
Dr. Phil
“Tough Love: People Who Love People Who Hate Cilantro”

Panel Discussion
"Cilantro Aversion: Cultural, Genetic or Environmental?"
Panelists discuss their attempts to acquire a taste for cilantro. Some succeeded, some failed. One panelist, who loved cilantro, developed an adult-onset aversion to it due to overexposure to a dangerous salsa recipe.

Luncheon Menu
REAL Guacamole
ChiChiCi (Chicken Chile with Cilantro)
Coriander Sorbet

Cilantro Poetry Contest Winner!
There once was a woman from Toronto
Who was offered a taste of cilantro
When asked what she thought
She said, “It tastes as it ought
But better wrapped in a burrito.”

Evening Entertainment
Iron Chef Cilantro Edition
Celebrity chef showdown over who can come up with the most creative and palatable use of this mysterious herb.

Note to conference participants: On your way in and out of the venue, you may encounter protesters from the Stop Abusing Basil Coalition. If you happen to encounter them, accept their pesto and keep moving.