Scentzilla!

I am a cilantro addict. Hardcore. Chew on the straight stuff. A hopeless case. When I buy cilantro, I wind up having to select two bunches: one for cooking, and one to account for how much I mindlessly munch on during preparations.

There’s a wide gulf between good cilantro and the mostly awful stuff that infests many supermarkets. You can’t always tell by appearance. Hold the herb close to your face and inhale the cilantro. High quality cilantro should smell slightly of sliced green peppers, and a little spicy, too. It will taste that way as well. The bad stuff will smell pleasant enough, but the piquant element will not be very strong, and it will smell mostly of salad greens. These lower quality herbs taste vaguely of Irish Spring soap, in my opinion.The average person needs to buy less of the good stuff than of the poorer tasting selections, because if you sprinkle it on to your food while slightly twisting and crushing the leaves between your fingers, they release a much stronger tastebud-pleasing oil. If you are going to eat it immedietly, it can be chopped for an even stronger taste. And you can use more of the stems, too, since even the stems of good cilantro taste better than the leaves of lower quality stuff. Alas, when good cilantro is unavailable, I still eat whatever I can find. I am shameless in my addiction. Clearly.

Imagine my delight to discover a cilantro-themed candle. Paddywax’s Mango Cilantro candle is an addict’s dream come true. Ooooooh, smell the pretty-pretty cilantro. This note is so true. So… yummy! Frankly, the candle is dangerous for me. It makes me painfully hungry when I am not, and I want to tear the fridge door off the hinges seeking a snacky fix. But ay, is it ever a fantastic aroma.

The cilantro-ey goodness is underpinned solely by the other eponymous note, mango. I’m not a huge mango fan (I like salty things rather than sweet) but this is drool worthy. Rick Bayless, in his cookbook Mexico One Plate at a Time (p. 340), describes his favorite mango as, “slippery, slithery, almost melt-in-your-mouth, with little of the stringiness that plagues certain varieties. [...] Imagine mango flavor enriched with ripe, ripe banana, sweet spices and egg yolks (odd as that may sound.)” This is the aroma of the mango he describes eating.

This candle’s almost enough to make me want to make a chunky mango and cilantro salsa, were I a bigger mango fan.

So along with a thumbs up for the Paddywax Mango Cilantro candle, I’m also recommending some summer reading. Pick up any of Rick Bayless’ books, though I’d especially recommend Mexico One Plate at a Time and Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen: Capturing the Vibrant Flavors of a World-Class Cuisine. (Hyperlinks are to Powell’s Books: support independent bookstores, please!) His books read more like can’t-put-it-down non-fiction tales than they do as straight cookbooks. You will walk away from reading them feeling inspired by his passion for Mexican cuisine and culture. It’s downright impossible to not be sparked into creative thought by his words.

The Paddywax Mango Cilantro candle is available at Nooks & Niches, which is where the above photo of it was obtained.