I hate cilantro.
June 25, 2007 2:45 PM   Subscribe

 
There seems to be strong pro-cilantro troll presence, based on the avatars.
posted by contraption at 2:49 PM on June 25, 2007


Congratulations on your ensuing large, "I like cilantro" / "I don't like cilantro"-insight-filled thread.
posted by Wolfdog at 2:52 PM on June 25, 2007


I like cilantro.
posted by eddydamascene at 2:53 PM on June 25, 2007


I like cilantro / I don't like cilantro
posted by hermitosis at 2:55 PM on June 25, 2007


I like large "I like cilantro" / "I don't like cilantro"-insight-filled threads.
posted by lekvar at 2:58 PM on June 25, 2007


Previously.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 2:58 PM on June 25, 2007


Well, this post isn't balanced at ALL! Where are the links to ilovecilantro.com? AgendaFilter!!
posted by kittens for breakfast at 2:59 PM on June 25, 2007


Cilantro haiku...
A stain on the precious Blue:
Seasonings Greetings!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:00 PM on June 25, 2007 [2 favorites]


I like cilantro. Furthermore, from this page trying to describe what cilantro tastes like.

S: Really? What does it taste like? Some people describe it as soapy.
M: Mmm. not soapy, but not like food, either. At least not like a vegetable. I expected maybe bitter, because vegetables people don't like are usually bitter. This was more like a closet might smell...translated into a taste. I pictured shoes. The taste lingers, too.


Wow, that is, like, a million miles away from how I would describe it. Not even remotely similar. So different, in fact, that I wonder if maybe these people are eating something that someone is telling them is cilantro, but is in fact not*. Cilantro.

Or maybe I am.

*like shoes covered in soap, maybe.
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas at 3:02 PM on June 25, 2007


study the dislikes
writ of food on internets
cilantropol'gy
posted by cortex at 3:05 PM on June 25, 2007




What the hell is cilantro?
posted by randomination at 3:08 PM on June 25, 2007


I was a loyal reader of that website up until a couple of years ago when I finally killed enough taste cells so that cilantro didn't strongly resemble dishwashing liquid to me anymore.
posted by Addlepated at 3:10 PM on June 25, 2007


randomination wrote "What the hell is cilantro?"

It's what Americans call coriander.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:10 PM on June 25, 2007


cortex sells it for 20 bucks...
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:10 PM on June 25, 2007


Cortex is a mod,
but still I must remind him:
"Seven syllables."
posted by The Bellman at 3:10 PM on June 25, 2007 [2 favorites]


Never mind, I just found it on the tags. I suppose 'cilantro' is something I could put on my 'eggplant' and 'zucchini'.
posted by randomination at 3:11 PM on June 25, 2007


What's a cilantro?
posted by pompomtom at 3:11 PM on June 25, 2007


It's what Americans call coriander.

To be specific, we call coriander seeds coriander, and coriander leaves cilantro.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:11 PM on June 25, 2007


Ahh... OK.

I like cilantro.
posted by pompomtom at 3:12 PM on June 25, 2007


Bellman's fingers count.
Did Cortex really flub it?
Count again, Bellman.
posted by The Bellman at 3:12 PM on June 25, 2007


Coriander seeds are nice. They smell a bit like fresh cookie dough.
posted by randomination at 3:13 PM on June 25, 2007


The Bellman can't count.
Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding!
Seven is magic.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:13 PM on June 25, 2007


sparsely parsleyed with
ample cilantro and make
mine shiso heavy
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:14 PM on June 25, 2007


Feh. It's a genetic polymorphism that determines the taste of cilantro for these poor souls. So well known that it's a teaching lab experiment.
posted by Mental Wimp at 3:14 PM on June 25, 2007 [2 favorites]


Mental Wimp: Poor souls indeed.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:16 PM on June 25, 2007


a sotto voce,
cradling the banhammer:
admin please hope you
posted by cortex at 3:18 PM on June 25, 2007 [2 favorites]


I hate cilantro, but having grown up eating mexican cooking there are plenty of dishes that don't taste right without it.

I think the trend of T.V. chefs overloading everything in site with cilantro is disastrous, its an herb and easily an overpowering one.

Next time you see some clown piling cilantro onto an otherwise edible dish, try picturing it with too much tarragon or sage, maybe too many cloves.

Its an herb that should be handled with care and finesse, something the clowns on T.V. seem to have forgotten, probably since they don't eat the show pieces they are destroying for our entertainment.
posted by Max Power at 3:19 PM on June 25, 2007


I used to hate it
now I think cilantro's good
who knows what changed me
posted by mcstayinskool at 3:26 PM on June 25, 2007


fools, cilantro rulez
posted by poppo at 3:32 PM on June 25, 2007


Previously.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 5:58 PM on June 25 [+] [!]


no, no, that isn't a previously. previously means it was posted here before. here means the blue. this has nothing to do with that other, green site.
posted by quonsar at 3:36 PM on June 25, 2007


Is this something I'd need TV and the Food Network to know about?

Hey! Seventeen syllables!

Is this something I'd
need TV and the Food Net-
work to know about?

Aw, crap.
posted by wendell at 3:36 PM on June 25, 2007


Maybe comments here
should be limited to
17 syllables.

Aw, crap.
posted by wendell at 3:40 PM on June 25, 2007


It's better in some things than others. I like lots of it in my salsa, slightly less in my Mongolian barbecue.
posted by infinitywaltz at 3:41 PM on June 25, 2007


Coriander hate
Makes about as much sense as
Hating sage or thyme
posted by motty at 3:42 PM on June 25, 2007


Cilantro in chicken salad is damn tasty.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:44 PM on June 25, 2007


You fools! Ignominious traitors!
You spurn the gifts of your creators
Cilantro is love
From the gods up above
So suck it, C. sativum haters.
posted by Wolfdog at 3:47 PM on June 25, 2007 [5 favorites]


Ask your subject if they like cilantro. Force them to answer as yes or no.

Yikes.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 3:52 PM on June 25, 2007


I have experienced an epiphany just now. I can finally admit the depth and extent of my hatred of cilantro. There is a place for me. There are others who share my pain.

I have goosebumps reading these accounts.

How can I describe this? It suppose it's like growing up feeling as though you see a different color than everyone else in the world, but not having any way to confirm it. A slight shift in perception, but always nagging in the background.

I pride myself on being able to eat damn near everything, and to find a way to enjoy it. I have lived in Scandinavia, and eaten the contents of yellowed-out jars full of graying fish offal. I have eaten raw beef, drowned in what I could only imagine was lemon juice and raw eggs. I have chewed crickets. I have drank Bud Light.

But these are pale horrors before those foul leaves that too many times have burst upon me, floating, silently sneering at me up from an otherwise delectable Thai soup. Oh, cilantro. How I despise your piss-strong chemical tang. Your soap-sud flatness. One day, my brothers will rise up against you, and that will be the end of your tyranny.

Mark these words and fear me, green beast.
posted by dosterm at 3:55 PM on June 25, 2007 [4 favorites]


True story: this eerily resembles an angry, half-drunk argument on cilantro love vs. hate that I witnessed in grad school.

I love both cilantro (leaves) and coriander (seeds). No one else in my family can stand them. That's right: more evidence that I'm actually adopted. Thanks MeFi.
posted by Tehanu at 3:56 PM on June 25, 2007


One of the things I miss about playing Kingdom of Loathing was the haiku dungeon, from which was unlocked the /haiku chat channel.
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:58 PM on June 25, 2007


It's a genetic polymorphism that determines the taste of cilantro for these poor souls. So well known that it's a teaching lab experiment.

Mental Wimp (eponymous!), the PDF you link to, if carried out, would only demonstrate that there is variation in whether people like cilantro or not--it would not demonstrate that the variation is the result of a genetic polymorphism. The document asserts that the variation is due to a genetic polymorphism, but that's very different from actually collecting evidence in support of that hypothesis.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:59 PM on June 25, 2007


Limerick is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
posted by cortex at 4:00 PM on June 25, 2007


At least I learned something today. Coriander and cilantro come from the same plant! Who knew?!

Everyone but me, apparently.
posted by infinitywaltz at 4:03 PM on June 25, 2007


mmmmm...cilantro! Despise turmeric!
posted by taosbat at 4:21 PM on June 25, 2007


The smell of cilantro reminds me of jimpson weed or smart weed or some other poisonous weed.
posted by 445supermag at 4:31 PM on June 25, 2007


What? Turmeric has no taste, just color. Cilantro, though (and I say this - as does everybody else - as one who will eat almost anything), has a taste which, although not as rank as durian, is as least as long lasting. I don't want to taste anything all night long.
posted by kozad at 4:34 PM on June 25, 2007


Haikus are nice, but
it's not always they make sense.
Refrigerator.

Thus, for cilantro,
my great love will be expressed
with the tanka form.
Thirty-one syllables, and
all of them love cilantro.
posted by invitapriore at 4:36 PM on June 25, 2007


There once was a scoundrel named cortex,
Renowned as a musical vortex.
No subject too trivial
For a minstrel convivial,
Though he might add a soupçon of more sex.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:52 PM on June 25, 2007 [1 favorite]


I *really like* cilantro! ah, fresh, ripe tomatoes, pinch of salt, dash of olive oil and chopped cilantro, mmmm.

Cilantro ((Coriandrum sativum), coriander-the-leaves, coriander-the-seeds, in Hindi, dhania.

According to Wikipedia, the reason some people do not like the smell/taste of cilantro may be genetic:

"The leaves are variously referred to as coriander leaves, cilantro (in the United States, from the Spanish name for the plant), dhania (in the Indian subcontinent, and increasingly in Britain), Chinese parsley or Mexican parsley. The leaves have a very different taste from the seeds, similar to parsley but "juicier" and with citrus-like overtones. Some people instead perceive an unpleasant "soapy" taste and/or a rank smell. This is believed to be a result of an enzyme that changes the way they taste cilantro, a genetic trait, but has yet to be fully researched"

Apparently, it has a medicinal property of being anti-anxiety, anxiolytic.
posted by nickyskye at 4:58 PM on June 25, 2007 [1 favorite]


So good you can bathe in it.
posted by caddis at 5:05 PM on June 25, 2007


Coriander hate
Makes about as much sense as
Hating sage or thyme


Right, and you have to love Garth Brooks, right? Because Johnny Cash was pretty cool.

Look, Cilantro is totally different than any other herb I've tasted. My experience is 100% the same as dosterm. I've eaten nearly everything, and there are pretty much only 2 things I can't stand the taste of -- one of them is whole boiled goat with extra yummy goat-stomache-sausage (on the other hand, I greatly relished the goat liver wrapped in strips goat fat and then grilled over the flame) and the other is cilantro. I even like coriander seeds, even though in some ways they have related flavors.

Cilantro, for me, has a sort of pungent astringency and faint soapyness, almost like the effect you get sniffing ammonia. It's not the most pleasant experience.

So far all of you out there who can handle cilantro, don't stick your noses up at us haters like we're being picky or something. We want to like cilantro -- at least, I do -- and I actually eat it quite often with the hope that one day I'll develop immunity. How many of you people eat things you hate the taste of out of pure shame for being seen as some kind of gustatory freak?

Oh, and it's not genetic. My identical twin brother loves the cilantro.
posted by Deathalicious at 5:09 PM on June 25, 2007


On postview: 'citrus-like overtones'?!? You lucky bastards. No wonder you add it to everything.
posted by Deathalicious at 5:10 PM on June 25, 2007


Funny (peculiar, not humor). Just yesterday I was contemplating posting an AskMe about this, wondering if there was any sort of Thai food that doesn't have cilantro. It tastes like medicine to me.

What I really don't understand is why the Tex-Mex food I grew up with in the 70s now has to have cilantro in it. It was fine without it, back in the day.

[before I forget, get off my lawn]
posted by Robert Angelo at 5:29 PM on June 25, 2007


Oh, and it's not genetic. My identical twin brother loves the cilantro.

Unless one of you has mutated. Is he now... Cilantro Man? From the looks of this thread, he could cripple people with such powers.
posted by Tehanu at 5:35 PM on June 25, 2007 [1 favorite]


i will not date anyone who has the character deficiency of disliking cilantro. or caraway seeds. or mushrooms. or seafood. through exhaustive field research, i have linked all of those food aversions to disagreeable sexual neuroses. beware the cilantrophobes. beware, i say!
posted by 3.2.3 at 5:45 PM on June 25, 2007


DevilsAdvocate, I stand corrected. There is no direct evidence of a polymorphism or any other genetic cause (I searched several scientific databases and found nada).
posted by Mental Wimp at 5:48 PM on June 25, 2007


Cool, now I actually know how to describe what it is I dislike about cilantro.

Thanks, Ambrosia!
posted by Betty Tyranny at 6:27 PM on June 25, 2007


Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and cilantro.
posted by SPrintF at 6:51 PM on June 25, 2007


Count me among those who taste Cilantro as being soapy and gross. I can only stand minute amounts in any dish before the flavor completely takes over and I taste nothing but Cilantro.
posted by falconred at 7:30 PM on June 25, 2007


Ogden Nash was ahead of his time...
posted by speug at 7:52 PM on June 25, 2007


I would happily
kill these filthy philistines
with my two bare hands
posted by nanojath at 8:13 PM on June 25, 2007


DON'T DISS ON THE LEAF
SALSA VERDE MY HOMIES
CILANTRO 4 LYFE
posted by casarkos at 8:32 PM on June 25, 2007 [1 favorite]


People of Thailand
Always thought farang stupid
Now they have the proof.
posted by gompa at 8:39 PM on June 25, 2007


Ok, so "Chinese parsley" and "Italian parsley" and "cilantro" and "coriander leaves" are used interchangeably...

but are they really the same thing (as in, the same sub-species and not "what's sold and named at grocery stores in N. America)?!

In my experience Chinese parsley bought from major Asian groceries supermarkets in Vancouver is subtly different than "cilantro" and "Italian parsley" (and even sometimes "Chinese parsley") bought at Western supermarkets here.

"Chinese parsley" in Asian grocery stores in Iowa is the (usually) the same as "Chinese parsley" that I grew up with (in Vancouver Asian supermarkets) but may or may not be the same as "cilantro" bought at Western supermarkets/groceries in Iowa - and then throw in the confusion from buying "cilantro" at Whole Foods and Co-op-type stores.

Has anyone done a definitive genotyping or am I suffering from something psychosomatic?

If anyone wants to throw me a bunch of money (anywhere from a few tens of thousands to millions of $USD/CDN I'd be willing to write up a research proposal and go ahead with the research.... one can hope
posted by porpoise at 11:26 PM on June 25, 2007


I'm sure if I weren't a genetic mutant, I'd love cilantro.

Unfortunately, it's always smelled and tasted exactly like dishwashing soap to me. Only very tiny amounts, usually in very fresh, strong salsa is edible for me.

Pity, because people really seem to like it, so it must be pretty good. If, you know, you aren't a mutant.

(or maybe you cilantro lovers are the mutants)
posted by angeline at 11:43 PM on June 25, 2007


Why do people call it cilantro? Did coriander suddenly split into two distinct bloodlines recently?

Then again, I'm still confused about the difference between pork and ham.
posted by tehloki at 12:24 AM on June 26, 2007


I *adore* cilantro. So much so, I could just graze on a big bunch of it and call it an appetizer.

Mind you, I grew up with two South American parents, so I've been eating cilantro-and-raw-onion salsa since babyhood.

My mom taught me to make a Peruvian version of chimichurri, which is essentially a sort of pesto made with cilantro instead of basil...and an assload of cumin and hot peppers (this is unique to the peruvian version, I think).

Right now I could go for a big pile of cilantro, tomato and onion, with a bit of lime juice and a lot of hot peppers.
posted by LMGM at 3:15 AM on June 26, 2007


It sounds like a car name. The Ford Cilantro, with heated rear windscreen and sun-roof.
posted by Grangousier at 3:57 AM on June 26, 2007 [1 favorite]


Or an exotic travel destination

"Come to Cilantro, where the beaches sprawl endlessly and there is a distinct shortage of chairs."
posted by tehloki at 4:09 AM on June 26, 2007


So far all of you out there who can handle cilantro, don't stick your noses up at us haters like we're being picky or something. We want to like cilantro -- at least, I do -- and I actually eat it quite often with the hope that one day I'll develop immunity. How many of you people eat things you hate the taste of out of pure shame for being seen as some kind of gustatory freak?

Actually I do. I've been trying to do that with marzipan (tastes like poison) for years - I think it's actually starting to work too. I positively enjoyed the last morbidi that I ate.

On the whole "chinese parsley" thing, I have a cookbook at home that claims that the chinese term for parsley translates to "western coriander". Ha!
posted by bifter at 4:57 AM on June 26, 2007


Grangousier: It sounds like a car name. The Ford Cilantro, with heated rear windscreen and sun-roof.

... but which every third or fourth person who rides with you thinks has a strange musty upholstery smell!
posted by aught at 6:40 AM on June 26, 2007


On an episode of Prairie Home Companion maybe 15 years ago, there was mention of a cilantro aftershave. I've wanted some ever since.

I do worry that supertasters will somehow outbreed us cilantro-loving folk, and cilantro will end up forever hated.
posted by Hubajube at 6:53 AM on June 26, 2007


Apparently, it has a medicinal property of being anti-anxiety

Really? That's interesting. I love "cilantro" too, we put it in our burgers for the barbecue. It's also pretty much the only thing in my garden that the squirrels/cats/raccoons haven't tried to dug up or ripped out, so they must be among the haters.
posted by jamesonandwater at 6:54 AM on June 26, 2007 [1 favorite]


Haiku is the principal refuge of the incompetent.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:34 AM on June 26, 2007


I think you're onto something, bifter - in Cantonese cilantro is "yiem sai" - the sai is probably the same word as West.

From my previous post, I guess it should be cultivar rather than sub-species.

Also, isn't "Italian parsley" supposed to be the kind with the really small leaves that are used as garnish in Western North American restaurants?
posted by porpoise at 8:19 AM on June 26, 2007


Wolfdog is a buttface. Butty butty buttface.
posted by cortex at 8:25 AM on June 26, 2007


Shiso (Perilla... never heard it called that) deserves another mention by me. It's phenomenal with sushi, and easily as strange a taste as cilantro to the uninitiated. I might actually call it soapy... it's ethereal and sharp at the same time, but sweet-green too. With a fuzzy texture!

Too soapy for me to eat: anything with violets! I don't want Jane Austen whinging about in my mouf.

Galangal is also pretty weird. Truth-or-dare-able.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 9:47 AM on June 26, 2007


Italian parsley.

Coriander = cilantro= Chinese parsley = Western coriander = Dhania.

Same families, different species.

Ham usually means certain cuts of cured pork in the U.S., tehloki. Unless it's the ham in Spam, which is more of a mystery ingredient.
posted by Tehanu at 5:43 PM on June 26, 2007 [1 favorite]


I looooove Shiso. And I also positively love candied violets and candies flavored with violets or roses, the stronger the better. I'm currently halfway into this delicious bag of pine-flavored honey candies and I'm popping them like, well, you know.

I've eaten galangal raw and enjoyed it. Heck, I've eaten tumeric raw and enjoyed it.

Still hate cilantro.
posted by Deathalicious at 5:43 PM on June 26, 2007


I had to learn to spell turmeric because I'm allergic to it.
posted by taosbat at 10:24 PM on June 26, 2007


Tumeric turns made me yellow. DAMN YOU TASTY FOOD DYE!
posted by tehloki at 3:25 AM on June 27, 2007


I do worry that supertasters will somehow outbreed us cilantro-loving folk, and cilantro will end up forever hated.

It's not at all clear that cilantro-haters are supertasters. I'm a cilantro-hater, but do not show any signs of being a supertaster. Indeed, cilantro is one of very very few foods that I dislike.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:23 AM on June 27, 2007


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