Cilantro taste aversion

[CaptTom]

I knew everyone has different tastes, but never knew it could be as specific as cilantro tasting like soap. I guess that's why some people hate Mexican food.

We found you can buy cilantro in plastic tubes in the produce section at the supermarket. Although fresh is better, these tubes last much longer in the fridge. They contain a liquidy paste of coarsely crushed leaves, which we think tastes much better than dried.

I never heard of it except in Mexican dishes, so yes, calling it cilantro in the US is from the Spanish, not English.

 

[MRG]

We eat Mexican food 3X weekly and I
I'll always go the the condiment bar and add more. Especially on carnitas or eggs.

 

[mpeirce]

I knew everyone has different tastes, but never knew it could be as specific as cilantro tasting like soap.

Broccoli is another food that tastes different to different people. It also has a genetic basis.

People are different. Go figure.

 

[Tadpole]

Another "tastes like soap" here. My husband doesn't like it either but I don't know if he tastes the soap.

 

[Koogie]

I would caution those that grow it themselves outside not to let it go to seed for two reasons.

One. Birds love the seeds and it seems to be a natural laxative to them.

Two. It spreads like wildfire. The spring after I let it go to seed, every time I cut the grass it smelt like a Thai restaurant in the backyard...

 

[Fleur58]

I have a friend who can’t eat anything with Cilantro in it, even trace amounts. He says it tastes like eating soap. At first I thought he was just being fussy, but after researching it, I learned that a small percentage of the population has a genetic disposition to cilantro having a very offensive taste. We just make sure we eat in restaurants that either don’t cook with it or can leave it out of dishes on request.

I’m curious to see if anyone else has experienced this?

My sister says the same thing--it tastes like soap. I love it.

 

[sengsational]

Just last week I learned that what Americans call cilantro, Brits (and apparently Australians) call coriander.

Americans call the (ground) seeds of that plant coriander, but the leaves cilantro.

Since the Spanish call the plant cilantro, Americans probably picked it up from Mexican food which uses a lot of it.

Oh, I'm a soap taster too. DW loves it, but considerately keeps it out of her cooking and adds it in to her food at the end.

I wonder if the "leaf tastes like soap" people also find the ground seed spice (coriander) offensive.


Belgian Wit, or Belgian White beer style is usually spiced will coriander, and I have a friend who loves all beer except those spiced with coriander... interesting!

 

[gwraigty]

I wonder if the "leaf tastes like soap" people also find the ground seed spice (coriander) offensive.


Belgian Wit, or Belgian White beer style is usually spiced will coriander, and I have a friend who loves all beer except those spiced with coriander... interesting!

Not me. I love coriander.

 

[SheitlQueen]

I don't think it tastes like soap, but I definitely do not like it.

 

[hausfrau]

I can't stand cilantro. It's awful and it does have that soapy quality (it's not as bad as soap though!). It's one of the two things I can't stand to eat. The only other thing is black licorice. I'll eat anything else.

 

[camfused]

I have the tastes like metal gene, so I avoid it. DD has it too, and FIL. DW loves the stuff.

 

[Walt34]

I'd never heard of cilantro and had to look it up. (Can you tell I'm not a chef?) According to this Wikipedia article from 4% to 14% of people have a gene that makes it taste like soap. Since I've never experienced that that I guess I don't have it.

 

[pacergal]

Another one with the soapy taste of cilantro. I can tolerate a very small amount in some foods, but really prefer not to have it.

 

[cj1717]

I have a friend who can’t eat anything with Cilantro in it, even trace amounts. He says it tastes like eating soap. At first I thought he was just being fussy, but after researching it, I learned that a small percentage of the population has a genetic disposition to cilantro having a very offensive taste. We just make sure we eat in restaurants that either don’t cook with it or can leave it out of dishes on request.

I’m curious to see if anyone else has experienced this?

Yes. A like or dislike for Cilantro is definitely genetic. 23andme will show your predisposition for or against it.

 

[happy2bretired]

Yes. A like or dislike for Cilantro is definitely genetic. 23andme will show your predisposition for or against it.

Yes 23&me did something similar to this with asparagus on my profile.[emoji23]

 

[slowsaver]

I have the cilantro soap gene. It isn't that rare: 10% of the population have it. Definitely made me gag when I was young. As I get older, it doesn't seem quite as soapy tasting anymore. I still pick it out of my food, but I can tolerate it better now. I think when you get old, your sense of taste dulls.

 

[ProspectiveBum]

Lots of strong opinions here. My wife hates cilantro, but I honestly don’t really notice it one way or the other. Maybe I just don’t have a very discerning palette.

 

[JoeWras]

DW and I love the stuff. We have a friend who absolutely despises it. "How can you all eat soap?" He asks.

 

[ABQ2015]

Another one with the soapy taste of cilantro. I can tolerate a very small amount in some foods, but really prefer not to have it.

Same here. Fortunately, except for salsa or maybe taco meat, most traditional New Mexican food does not have cilantro or has very little of it. Oregano is more common as a seasoning. Cilantro is generally not added to red or green chile so I can eat my enchiladas and smothered burritos without that slightly offensive taste. But I've noticed that the nearby Mexican style taqueria uses lots of cilantro.

 

[Koogie]

Huh... I must have the "brussel sprouts taste horrible" gene....

Gotta explain that to DW....

 

[Walt34]

Huh... I must have the "brussel sprouts taste horrible" gene....

Gotta explain that to DW....

I must have that gene too, wish my Mom had accepted that explanation. Back when I was little she was insistent that I WILL eat some brussel sprouts and I'm not leaving the table until I do. Finally I managed to choke some down, then promptly threw up on the plate. Later we went through the same exercise with broccoli.

She was finally convinced and never again asked me to eat either one.

 

[NW-Bound]

When we were RV'ing in the Canadian Maritimes, we could not find cilantro in the markets. Looked like people there do not eat it or even know about it. Wonder if they all have the "soapy cilantro" gene.

 

[CaptTom]

I must have that gene too, wish my Mom had accepted that explanation. Back when I was little she was insistent that I WILL eat some brussel sprouts and I'm not leaving the table until I do. Finally I managed to choke some down, then promptly threw up on the plate. Later we went through the same exercise with broccoli.

She was finally convinced and never again asked me to eat either one.

I always assumed people were confusing cause and effect. It's not that their mother made them eat something they hated, but that they hated things that their mother made them eat.

With DW it's cooked carrots. To me, they have very little taste at all, so I assumed it was her mother's fault.

But you're forcing me to change my view. Although I find broccoli and brussels sprouts pretty good, I recognize that they share a unique taste that some might not take to. Now I see that's true with cilantro, too.

Still not sure about cooked carrots. But I'm learning!

 

[Seagirt]

I remember reading that cilantro was the one food Julia Child hated.

I didn't like it at first either, but I think it's an acquired taste I've come to enjoy, and could probably love if I ate it enough. Like beer, whiskey, coffee, dark chocolate, blue cheese. Just start with a little bit, and don't over-react to what at first seems unpleasant.

 

[joeea]

I have a friend who can’t eat anything with Cilantro in it, even trace amounts. He says it tastes like eating soap. At first I thought he was just being fussy, but after researching it, I learned that a small percentage of the population has a genetic disposition to cilantro having a very offensive taste. We just make sure we eat in restaurants that either don’t cook with it or can leave it out of dishes on request.

I’m curious to see if anyone else has experienced this?

My wife hates cilantro. I like it. I'm not sure it has anything to do with genetics.

On the other hand, most cheese smells like feet to me.