Cilantro taste aversion

[Ready]

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?

 

[Midpack]

DW and I love Mexican (and Italian) and I cook with and eat cilantro often, essential to guacamole and Chilaquiles to us. We’ve even grown our own cilantro with only modest success. But we have friends who hate cilantro. It is unique. Taste is individual, no right or wrong absolutes.

 

[razztazz]

Not with cilantro but in my case it's sweetness. I heard Thomas Jefferson was known to have an aversion to sweet things too. Maybe that's why he died at 84 with all his natural teeth?

Think of children and all the aversions they have to various foods. Of course as they get older they grow out of it or just become less sensitive to whatever chemical in the food is turning them off.

 

[Oz investor]

CILANTRO

https://www.geniuskitchen.com/about/cilantro-16

i had never heard it called that name ( so i guess i am not unique )

a bad reaction , not that i am aware of , but maybe i will take a little more notice now ( especially if Cilantro becomes more common in local cooking , normal Coriander is something i have used often without a problem )

 

[Gumby]

I have heard of this genetic aversion to cilantro. Fortunately, neither the young wife nor I experience it. We grow our own and regularly include it in our meals.

 

[RobbieB]

I love the stuff and pile it on thick. Cheap fresh and plentiful here in CA too -

 

[audreyh1]

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?

That’s right. The know some folks who have the gene that causes cilantro aversion. They say same - tastes like soap and can’t stand it.

Fortunately I don’t have this aversion and I adore cilantro cooked or raw.

 

[ERD50]

DW used to hate Cilantro, now she loves it. I seem to recall an occasional 'soapy' taste. I remember reading it had to do with cutting it and leaving it set a while. I guess best to tear it, or cut and use right away? Or maybe cut, and then lime juice or other stuff keeps the 'soap' taste from forming?

I plant some seeds here in the Midwest on the North side of the house - it does OK if you keep trimming it so it doesn't go to seed.

edit/add: OK, I found this:

If you want to “turn” the taste buds of a cilantro hater, try crushing the tender leaves. By bruising the leaves via mincing, crushing or pulverizing, enzymes are released which break down the aldehydes that are an affront to some. Cooking will also reduce the offensive flavor, again by breaking down the aldehydes and allowing other, more pleasant, aromatic compounds to shine.

Read more at Gardening Know How: Soapy Tasting Cilantro: Why Cilantro Tastes Soapy

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/cilantro/soapy-tasting-cilantro.htm

-ERD50

 

[Bestwifeever]

My best friend is not at all a picky eater but she says cilantro tastes like soap to her no matter how it is handled or served.

 

[NYEXPAT]

Never had it till I moved to Peru 15 years ago. Did not care for it at first, now I love it! They use it in goat/beef/chicken stew. If you are at a Peruvian restaurant and the menu says "Seco de _____", you can be sure Cilantro is the overwhelming ingredient.

 

[ohyes]

Cilantro fan here.

We have a son who has always said it tastes like soap. A few months ago, our daughter paid for the 23andMe genetics test, which mentioned that trait; she does not have it.

I feel fortunate to have escaped this.

 

[badatmath]

I can't even stand a tiny bit. I have never eaten soap but I suspect it is actually BETTER then this awful soapy stuff.

 

[RobbieB]

Soap is a term for cilantro I first heard today.

I know lots of people that think it is a strong flavor and use it mildly or not at all, but never heard it taste "soapy"

Dunno.

 

[timo2]

from the article: "Some people possess a gene that makes them very sensitive to the aldehyde component in cilantro. A 2012 study noticed a genetic link near the olfactory center of DNA in about 10 percent of those with cilantro aversion."

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/do-you-love-or-hate-cilantro-the-reason-may-surprise-you/

 

[Yarnstormer]

Same here - tastes like soap!

 

[NW-Bound]

We eat cilantro all our life. One day, we invited a neighbor couple over for dinner, and they said it tasted like soap. It came as a surprise to us, so we tried a few leaves alone, thought about it, and agreed that it could be perceived as soapy.

 

[Oz investor]

to the best of my knowledge , i have only consumed the seed form ( and cooked )

 

[swakyaby]

I enjoy cilantro. But I also met a person at work who couldn't stand cilantro. She explained it tasted like soap to her.

 

[mountainsoft]

I used to hate cilantro, to me it tasted "metallic" (never noticed a soap taste?).

I've never been a Mexican food fan so the few times I had a burrito at a local Mexican restaurant it had that metallic taste and I thought the flavor was coming from their metal grill or pans.

Somewhere along the way I discovered the metallic taste was actually from the cilantro. Once I could identify the flavor I somehow learned to enjoy it. Today I use it often in many dishes including a pineapple and cucumber salsa for Scallops, and a Thai chicken pizza.

I still pick up that metallic hint but I suppose it is an acquired taste I have learned to love.

As for a soap taste, prawns from the gulf coast taste incredibly soapy to me, to the point of being inedible. I have never noticed the soapy flavor in tiger prawns from Thailand.

 

[happy2bretired]

The first time I ate cilantro, it really tasted like soap. Then for some reason I absolutely started to love it. I can’t imagine why that first taste was like soap. Now, I always tend to double cilantro in recipes.

 

[target2019]

I'm not a fan of cilantro either. One out of five may have the gene as mentioned in this article.
https://delishably.com/spices-seasonings/Why-Does-Cilantro-Taste-Bad

 

[Cobra9777]

I'm a huge fan of cilantro. I buy it every week when it's not growing in the garden. I first had it about 20 years ago... on a pizza from one of those "gourmet" pizza chains. I was hooked. Such an amazing flavor. I now go a little overboard with it. But DW likes it too. I have met only one person with an aversion to it. She did not mention "soapy", just that she did not care for it at all.

 

[Dtail]

We use cilantro often enough, but agree that folks just love it or hate it.

 

[mpeirce]

CILANTRO

https://www.geniuskitchen.com/about/cilantro-16

i had never heard it called that name ( so i guess i am not unique )

a bad reaction , not that i am aware of , but maybe i will take a little more notice now ( especially if Cilantro becomes more common in local cooking , normal Coriander is something i have used often without a problem )

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.

 

[gwraigty]

I can't stand it fresh, but will use the dried herb.