Cilantro

J

Josh_

Senior Member
the phrontistery
U.S., English
I was just wondering something. How would cilantro be translated into Arabic? I know that بقدونس is parsley, but I have also heard some people use it as cilantro (probably because they look similar). I just want to know if this is appropriate. Many Arabic words have a broad range of meanings (as far as English translation goes) such as دفّاية (stove, central heating, fire place and just about anything that gives off heat) and دوّاسة (foot rest, treadle, bath-mat, duckboard, and just about anything you could put your foot on) for example. Some words use adjectives in order to particularize the different meanings such as نحاس which can mean copper or brass, but are particularized as نحاس أحمر and نحاس أصفر respectively. I was just wondering if the same be done with بقدونس ? If so, what is the term? If not, what is the Arabic word for cilantro?
 
    • Hi Josh,
    I'd like to thank you for an interesting question that made me do some research :)
    I found a very interesting and nice site, where there are some information about herbs :
    http://www.mccormick.com/content.cfm?id=8216
    it helped me, first, know what cilantro is :) for i knew it as an Italian word (we have a cafee chain in Egypt called cilantro -pronounced as shilantro). And i didn't find the word in my English dictionary.
    Well, know i can say with some confidence that cilandro is كزبرة خضراء kuzbara khadra, which goes with what you said about Arabic language adding adj. to deferentiate words :
    in English there's cilantro and coriander , in Arabic there's kuzbara and kuzbara khadra. they're the same plant, just one is the leaves and the other the seeds, and they also have two different tastes.
    Both are different from parsley, which is بقدونس bakduunis in Arabic.
     
    Thanks, Cherine. I had looked in every Arabic dictionary I had and even in the electronic ones I have, but I could not find it.

    I like to make salsa with cilantro and when I make محشى , specifically ورق عنب I use cilantro.
     
    Josh Adkins said:
    I had looked in every Arabic dictionary I had and even in the electronic ones I have, but I could not find it.
    Click to expand...
    Me neither :) That's why i had to look, and fortunately found that site.
    Also the link given by Whodunit is very useful. Remeber there's a difference in name, shape, flavor between cilantro and coriander, and كزبرة - كزبرة خضراء

    Josh Adkins said:
    I like to make salsa with cilantro and when I make محشى , specifically ورق عنب I use cilantro.
    Click to expand...
    You know how to make it ?! :) I LOVE it. I was going to tell you that my mother always adds kozbara khadra to ma7shi, but i wasn't sure you'd know what ma7shi is :)
     
    cherine said:
    You know how to make it ?! :) I LOVE it. I was going to tell you that my mother always adds kozbara khadra to ma7shi, but i wasn't sure you'd know what ma7shi is :)
    Click to expand...

    We should stop this mouth-watering discussion before this ma7shi-deprived expatriate goes crazy! ;)

    Seriously speaking, though, Josh lived in Egypt - if I'm not mistaken - so he must have had plenty of ma7shi. Nevertheless, making it is quite the task so I am equally impressed. I, for one, have yet to take up the challenge of deftly producing what to even the best of cooks is no piece of cake!
     
    cherine said:
    You know how to make it ?! :) I LOVE it. I was going to tell you that my mother always adds kozbara khadra to ma7shi, but i wasn't sure you'd know what ma7shi is :)
    Click to expand...
    Yeah. I don't make it often because it takes such a long time, but I do enjoy it once in a while.

    My favorite Egyptian dish, though, is كشرى (kushari). Living in Egypt I would eat it at least once a week, sometimes more. But I don't want to get too far off topic. Maybe we should open an Arabic foods thread.
     
    Cherine and Josh:
    I was lucky to get a quick answer in google, although I entered one word in "search". I wrote "Kosbara" and was asked: Do you mean "Kusbara", and the answer was Cilantro. Best wishes, Henry
     
    Hi Henry, and welcome to the Forums :)
    Cilantro is indeed kusbara, but only the leaves (like we say in Egypt : Kusbara khadra), while the seeds (which we call kusbara) are coriander in English.
     
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