Cilantro. Delicious? Or reminiscent of burning plastic?

[Orrex]

Discuss.

[Lochloosa]

1. Used sparingly, it doesn't stink up the house too much.

[Orrex]

2. The first time I had it was in fresh salsa

And I honestly thought I'd been poisoned.

[Adrahil]

3. I love it. My wife less so. NT

[Tanuki]

4. You may not love cilantro, but somebunny does....

https://m.

[Orrex]

25. Don't let them fly on United (nt)

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. Dirty dishwater.

[trof]

62. Chlorine for me

[HopeAgain]

6. Interesting article on this...

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/09/14/161057954/love-to-hate-cilantro-its-in-your-genes-and-maybe-in-your-head

[Orrex]

7. Clearly my superior genes allow me to recognize this vile weed for what it is

Cool article. Thanks!

[HopeAgain]

22. Important fact for us non-cilantristos

When you go to Chipotle, you can always ask for the rice without any cilantro in it. They always keep some behind the counter...

[Orrex]

24. No shit? That's fantastic!

I eat at the local Chipotle occasionally, and I've been choking down the cilantro because there was no visible better option.

Thanks for the tip!

[frazzled]

8. Sweaty stinky gym shoes

I found cilantro revolting well before the genetic propensity to like or dislike it was reported. And I can't think of one other herb or vegetable I don't like. Even the smallest bit of it in food (and it's used in a lot of dishes) made me want to gag. Over the years, however, perhaps because my sense of smell and taste has diminished a bit, I find I can tolerate a small amount added into a cooked dish. Don't care for it, but it doesn't make me want to wretch.

When I cook and a dish calls for cilantro, I substitute parsley. I realize it's not the same, but it adds that green, fresh component.

[Orrex]

9. Even a whisper of it overwhelms the other flavors for me

As you've described, I like just about all vegetables (except some punishingly hot peppers), but cilantro stops me in my tracks. I endured some in a rice & beans side dish yesterday, and it was like eating a hot six-pack yoke.

In my adult life I've never encountered another food that elicited such a sharply negative reaction for me.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

10. It's a genetic thing.

My buddy thinks it tastes like dishsoap. I don't see the similarity.

On a side note, if you eat asparagus and your piss smells like mildew, it's a genetic thing, too. Doesn't affect everyone.

[Cirque du So-What]

12. Soap. Exactly.

That's how it tasted to me when I was first introduced to it many years ago. Now I'm fine with it and it no longer tastes like soap to me.

[yodermon]

55. on asparagus: if I remember correctly the genetic "thing" is the ability to SMELL the funky pee,

not that your pee smell funky or not.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

68. So some people think their piss don't stank? nt

[yodermon]

76. YEP! awesome ain't it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/31/asparagus-pee_n_6077006.html

If you insist you’ve never before smelled what’s been informally dubbed “asparagus pee,” it’s because you lack the ability to detect the odor. The smell is there, you just can’t smell it. “The digestive process is pretty constant from person to person, but a person’s ability to detect these odors varies,” Sheth says. This is because our perception of smell — just like our perception of color — is completely personal. “We all have our own idiosyncratic smell perception of the world,” Dr. Ian Davison, a biology professor at Boston University, explains to HuffPost. “Our experience of different smells is completely unique.” The inability to smell this asparagus pee is an instance of specific anosmia, where a specific scent cannot be detected by a specific nose.

[Leith]

77. Count Me as Another Who Thinks Dish Soap

In particular, Lux Liquid. The pink stuff. I haven't seen it on store shelves in decades, but the smell was distinctive.

[WePurrsevere]

11. Leaves of cilantro & flakes of soap taste similar to me.

I'm not a super picky eater but cilantro is definitely one of my food nemeses. I'd say it even beats out adult lima beans for 1st place.

[Polly Hennessey]

13. Delicious

Love the taste and smell. Same with curry and ginger. Oh, and Lima Beans are one of my comfort foods.

[pnwest]

18. Me 2! Love cilantro, LOVE Lima beans! When

I buy cilantro, I bury my nose in it and savor that lemony-herby goodness! And it is the FIRST ingredient in my pico de gallo. I crush a generous amount of the leaves in a bit of olive oil to release the favors, and then add the rest of the pico ingredients.

Boyfriend hates it.

He also doesn't understand how I can savor a lunch of nothing but buttered Lima beans....

[panader0]

14. I love it. Then again I live 15 miles fron Mexico.

Cilantro is used in many Mexican dishes.
I grow it and use it in many ways. I don't get the association with soap.

[Orrex]

15. I don't get the soap comparison either

It always smells like hot or burning plastic to me.

Kooky.

[nadine_mn]

74. It doesn't taste like soap to me - it just tastes vile

Maybe I have been licking tasty soap

But man, it just wrecks any dish for me

[FSogol]

16. Good in Mexican food, good in Vietmanese Food. Strange when encounted elsewhere.

[OriginalGeek]

23. that's pretty much me

I think it tastes like soap but I love Mexican and Tex-Mex so much I eat it anyway.

Like I've said before, a youth spent getting my mouth (literally!) washed out with dish soap at day care prepared me for enjoying food with cilantro in it later...

[LisaM]

53. It's good in Chinese food....

which is where I first had it. I also like to make a cilantro and mint chutney to have with Indian curries.

[femmocrat]

17. Tastes like stinkbugs smell.

Nasty stuff.

[IphengeniaBlumgarten]

28. Totally agree, except...

it is just the totally right thing in charro beans, where I use a least half a bunch.

[Paladin]

19. An acquired taste. I use it sparingly in Mexican and Indian cooking.

Took me a while to develop a taste for it; I certainly don't look down on folks who don't like it.

[Orrex]

20. And I only mock cilantro fans in a spirit of light-hearted good humor

What puzzles me most about it is that, from what I've read online, very few people are lukewarm about it. Either they love it (like an apparent majority), or they can't stand it (like me).

When I accidentally ingest it, I'm reminded of a scene in The Fly from 1986, in which Geena Davis declares a teleported steak to taste "funny" and "synthetic." Cilantro is like that for me, I think; it's teleported parsley.

[Paladin]

21. "Teleported parsley." Good one. (nt)

[smirkymonkey]

65. I agree. At first I thought it tasted a little soapy, but the more I had it in various Mexican and

other ethnic dishes, the more it grew on me. Now I love it!

[flor-de-jasmim]

26. Try in a combination with paprika, garlic and olive oil (on chicken or pork, for example).

[PoorMonger]

27. Soap

To me cilantro has always been soapy. I avoid it whenever possible - but can handle it in small amounts.

[oasis]

29. I got a taco plate from a lunch wagon at work many years ago.

A tiny white worm was crawling on top of the cilantro. Haven't had any since.

[2naSalit]

30. I love it...

grow it when I can and put it in about a quarter of all dishes, but I do ask those who wold eat it if they love it or hate it knowing about the genetic factor regarding it's desirability.

[Orrex]

33. That's a very considerate gesture on your part

I would never scoff at a dish that someone prepared for me, but if asked my preference I would definitely decline an offer to add cilantro!

[2naSalit]

35. I understand...

My mentor of all things natural and consumable loves it, uses it a lot but her one daughter hates it so we have to consider that if we want her to join us in a dinner or something. I have several friends who get the bad taste from it so I think about that. I am allergic to mint, all of it in every variety, including catnip... it makes me request of friends to refrain from gum/lozenges or whatever in my company - otherwise I get a big headaches and end up ill... so I get that some sensitivities are person-specific.

[ploppy]

31. I don't even like to walk by cilantro

at the grocery store. Julia Childs wasn't a fan either. She said it should be picked out of food and thrown on the floor.

[Orrex]

34. Now I like her even more!

[Shrike47]

32. Nasty bitter taste. Avoid cilantro!

[narnian60]

36. Love it.

[frogmarch]

37. Ick!

I can't place the smell or taste, but burning plastic comes close, I think.

[SonofDonald]

38. Yuck

First time I had it in my life I spit out the taco it was in, aftertaste was not to my palette.

[Orrex]

40. I first encountered it on nacho bar day in my company's cafeteria

I knew the server pretty well, so I actually asked her if there was something wrong with the salsa.

She looked at me like I was crazy.

[retrowire]

39. Burning plastic?????!!!

I heard of people either tasting freshness or SOAP.

And I'm in the camp that tastes SOAP.

But burning plastic? Good lord

[Orrex]

42. Ugh. It tastes acutely synthetic to me.

The scent alone is enough to kick it off, as if the acrid fumes from this vile weed are themselves corrupting my soul via my taste buds.

[PJMcK]

41. I love it!

But I've never been noted for my taste.

[Ron Obvious]

43. I like it alright

And I'm a real fussy eater too, with many phobias and aversions to common foods.

Hell, I liked Brussels Sprouts too when I was a kid. These things defy explanation.

[elleng]

44. Delicious. Haven't heard the 'burning plastic' meme,

just 'soap!'

[lunamagica]

45. I love it! Now, don't even ask me about onions...YUCK

[Kali]

46. LOVE it!

pico de gallo - chopped tomato, onion, jalapeno, a sqeeze of lime and a ton of cilantro

Must have it in many Mexican soups and for sure coktel de camarones! make that pico, only leave the vegs in larger chunks, add cuke and avocado. pour some spicy V8, clamato, or tomato juice and hot sauce to taste, stir in cooked shrimp, refrigerate till COLD. garnish with more cilantro and serve with saltines. and beer or margaritas.

OK I know what I want for dinner now.

[moriah]

47. Fortunately for me, don't have the gene that ruins cilantro.

Other people describe it as "soapy", too, who taste a horrible taste with it.

My ex was Eastern European and his mother used cilantro in everything. In fact, if I added cilantro to a dish he found bland, it made him love it.

[Orrex]

49. Did you, by chance, do that gene taste-test thing in school?

They handed out strips of paper treated with phenylthiocarbamide. Some fraction of the class couldn't taste it, while the rest of us found it acutely bitter. I wonder if it's like that?

[moriah]

50. Only testing was from tasting tons of it and not barfing. ;)

I'm actually a meh-person on it myself -- I preferred my grandmother's cornbread dressing without it, but it made him eat it my first Thanksgiving away from home. Added fresh in the herb rub for the turkey, too.

[Laffy Kat]

48. I like it but a little goes a long way. nt

[brewens]

51. It can be a little like when someone walks in wearing so much perfume you can taste it!

I have liked just the right amount in salsa though.

[guillaumeb]

52. I am pro-cilantro.

An excellent addition to veggie tacos.

[JudyM]

56. Same here. Adds a blast of fresh green.

[LisaM]

54. I love it!

I find it absolutely addicting.

[spiderpig]

57. Ewwwwww...

Fortunately, Mr. pig has the same flavor profile, so there's no conflict in this house.

[montana_hazeleyes]

58. I'll add my vote. Detest it! lol

[northoftheborder]

59. Love it!!!

But have 2 friends who hate it. I've tried to grow it, because it's hard to use up a whole bunch from the store before it goes bad, (does not keep more than 2-3 days). You have to grow in the winter here. I think people's taste buds are different, causing some to like or dislike different foods.

[lunatica]

60. It makes food fit for the gods!

You can put it in stuff you never think of putting it into and it makes it much better!

[Iggo]

61. Soap. (n/t)

[Luciferous]

63. Tastes like soap

[Generic Brad]

71. That's what my daughter perceives too

But my wife and I both find it delicious.

[herding cats]

64. I can't live without it!

I use it several times a week in my cooking. From Vietnamese to Mexican cuisine, it's an essential herb. Love it!

[smirkymonkey]

66. I think it's so interesting how people can taste things so differently.

I know people who absolutely LOVE lamb. I think it tastes like dirty socks. I don't understand how anyone can choke it down. And I am not a picky eater, but that is one taste I cannot tolerate.

[applegrove]

67. Hate it.

[IrishEyes]

69. Delicious

[nolabear]

70. Love it like cats love catnip.

[JHan]

72. most sensible post in this thread lol

[nadine_mn]

73. It tastes so bad, and as a Latina it makes me so sad

I can taste the smallest piece of it and it overpowers everything else. And it is all over the place in Mexican food

I wish I could like it, but I have had to say no to so many delicious looking foods because I see that vile green leaf poking out

[bluecollar2]

75. delicious

Love the stuff, especially in a tomato and red onion salad with olive oil and lemon juice dressing.