Where has all the cilantro gone?

A few days ago I went to Superama to buy a few groceries. As I made my way to the herbs, I noticed cilantro was missing among the bunches of epazote, mint and flat leaf parsley.

I wanted to groan. This store NEVER has cilantro. Or… maybe it was hiding somewhere.

I asked an employee standing nearby if they had any. He shook his head. “It hasn’t arrived,” he said.

Arrived? Arrived from where? We live in Mexico. It should take up half the space in the produce truck! I didn’t say any of that, though. Instead I told him, “You know, four out of five times that I shop here, the store has no cilantro. Isn’t that odd?”

“I guess you have bad luck,” he said.

I bought the rest of my groceries, and ended up stopping for cilantro at the mercado near my house. But I didn’t see it immediately, which caused me to get all worked up all over again. (What the eff is going on in this country?) The guy there asked me what I needed, and I said in the sweetest voice possible, “Do you have any cilantro?”

He led me down the aisle, and pulled a thin, rather wimpy bunch of cilantro out of a grocery bag. I thought about bad-mouthing Superama to him, but I didn’t.

Later that night, I deconstructed the story in detail to Crayton. He told me that since Superama is owned by Wal-Mart, there is probably a reason why our local store never has any cilantro.

“They’ve determined there isn’t a high demand for cilantro in the community,” he said, very business-reporter like.

“That’s CRAP!” I exploded. Although I didn’t say crap. Sorry mom.

I don’t know why cilantro has me all worked up, but it does. This is a basic staple in Mexican cooking. I should be able to find it on every corner. And actually, it IS on every corner, chopped finely as topping for tacos. What about the poor ama de casa who just wants to make tofu dip, dammit?

I didn’t have enough for my tofu dip, so I ended up using it in a layered tortilla casserole. Which fell apart in the oven.

Somewhere up there, the cilantro gods, in shackles and chains, are doubled over and laughing.