Cilantro

[darkemeralds]

A Twitter conversation about cilantro yesterday between Jane Espenson and Drew Greenberg (Jane vows to try liking it, Drew feels betrayed in their united cilantro hatred) led me to some reading about this poor controversial little leaf, aka coriander and also aka Chinese parsley, which some people regard almost as a poison even as it makes up an important part of several great cuisines.

An NPR article cites some research into the divide. After ruling out taste factors in the leaf, the research found that there's a smell component that cilantro lovers can detect, but which cilantro haters can't. Without that component, the stuff smells like soap. Or bugs.

This interested me because I've been on both sides of the cilantro divide. For most of my life I hated the stuff. It ruined anything it was in, and removed vast swaths of Mexican and Indian cuisine from my enjoyment.

Then a few weeks ago, thanks to a cilantro-centric dish offered by kis when she was visiting, I discovered that I now like it. I suspect my gluten-freedom has something to do with it: a number of my tastes and cravings have undergone such remarkable changes in the last eight months that I hardly know myself. Sinus-clearing alone could account for the shift in olfactory perception.

So, a poll.

Poll #4677 Cilantro

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 20

View Respondents

You and cilantro:

View Answers

Hate
4 (20.0%)

Love
12 (60.0%)

Indifferent
2 (10.0%)

What's cilantro?
2 (10.0%)

Comments

[executrix]

I love cilantro--used to hate it!--but I do think it tastes like soap. But you say that like it's a bad thing! FWIW I also used to hate limes and now I put lime juice in lots of things.

[lamentables]

I loathe the taste of fresh coriander - it eclipses everything else in the dish - but I've become more tolerant of it with practice. It still tastes vile, but I find it easier to ignore.

Coriander seeds and ground coriander on the other hand? &hearts

Many, many years ago I grew some coriander in the garden, being aware of it only as a spice, not a herb, and I found I couldn't even bear to brush past it because of the smell.

[legionseagle]

I'm extremely fond of fresh coriander (especially in omelettes and parsi scrambled eggs) but my partner does not care for it; interestingly, while he doesn't seem to be gluten or wheat intolerant there's obviously enough of a sensitivity on that front that he prefers (and feels better when eating) spelt/rye breads rather than other types.

[kis]

Mr Kis is like you. He used to hate the stuff but now, as you noticed, likes it. He still doesn't adore it with a passion though, unlike me.

[cat63]

It's easy to grow too - I've even had some self-seed on my allotment over a fairly mild winter.

[writerscramp]

(Another tab I've had saved in my browser to come back to when I had a moment!)

So hilarious that you posted about this, because the day you did -- or the day I read it, at least -- we had this very discussion at work, re: cilantro love vs. cilantro hate. I'm the only person I know who hates it, everyone else loves it. Tastes like soap/astringent to me. And as you say, removes a wide swath of Mexican and Indian food for me unless it can be left out.

I think I've mentioned before that S and I are pretty certain I'm a supertaster. Cilantro is one of the foods that super tasters tend to not be able to enjoy. I tend to keep trying these things, however, in the hope that this time, this time it'll be different, to varying degrees of success. You give me hope that that approach may some day yield results.

[tehomet]

I dislike it greatly so I chose 'hate.'