Cilantro: Delicious flavor enhancer or like eating a bar of soap?

[TJay]

I love the taste of cilantro and so does my wife. I grew some one year and I'll tell you this, soil has a lot to do with how strong the flavor is. The cilantro that I grew was like cilantro on steroids, as much as I like cilantro I couldn't stand the stuff that I grew.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I love it, eat it by the bushels. Grow my own, too. Any kind of Latino or Asian food just isn't right without cilantro. Love coriander, too, which is ground cilantro seeds.

 

[Paymaster]

I'm curious...

My wife loves cilantro. She would almost eat it by the handful. I never could understand how she could stand it because it has always tasted like sucking on a bar of soap (yeah yeah.. I had a couple of instances of potty mouth growing up, so yes, I know what soap tastes like).

A while back, I saw an article floating around where the way a person tastes cilantro is tied to the person's genetics. There is a gene that, if flipped one way, makes cilantro taste like soap. I guess I have that gene flipped to 'soap' mode.

How many folks here are in the "cilantro = soap" boat and how many like the stuff? I'm curious how much of a minority I am in based on how many recipes call for cilantro.

CJ

I am in the "I love cilantro" group.
To me Earl Grey tea tastes like soap. I love all kinds of tea but not EG.

 

[cjones]

Interesting... I am obviously in the VERY small minority with just a few other folks here. That explains why so many recipes call for the stuff.

There's a small mom-n-pop Mexican restaurant near our house that my wife and I would (pre-quarantine) use for weekly Friday lunch dates. Their tacos consist of meat, onions, and cilantro on a homemade tortilla with a wedge of lime on the side. I tried picking as much of the cilantro off that I could, but just couldn't get over the soap taste. I can appreciate how it gives a 'fresh' taste, but it's just too much like fresh soap to me.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I don't find any soapy taste to it at all. Tangy and slightly lemony.

 

[Laman]

I'm without a doubt in the soap club. I don't care how little is in a dish I can taste it. Problem is the rest of the family loves it so I have to tolerate their cooking but they know when I'm cooking it's not going to happen. Same as with feta cheese, I can smell the old goat no matter how you try and ruin good food with it.

 

[cjones]

I'm without a doubt in the soap club. I don't care how little is in a dish I can taste it. Problem is the rest of the family loves it so I have to tolerate their cooking but they know when I'm cooking it's not going to happen. Same as with feta cheese, I can smell the old goat no matter how you try and ruin good food with it.

The ONLY time my wife has ever sent food back was when she ordered a salad and it has some sort of goat cheese on it. She tried to pick it off, but she said she could still taste it and sent the salad back.

 

[dwhee87]

Interesting thread. Love the stuff. No such thing as too much cilantro.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Love it. Made a big batch of Pico yesterday, it's almost gone now. Savages.

 

[tv_racin_fan]

For me and my wife it tastes like soap. However for certain dishes they do not taste right without some.

 

[Grayback]

If I pick a price and eat it by itself I don’t care for, but add it to anything else and I love it. Mexican style tacos are my favorite.

 

[maker4life]

Love it but I had a change of heart with it. Years ago I couldn't stand it and then one day, bam. I liked cilantro.

 

[Dub]

I love cilantro.


Wife likes it in moderation.


Our son does't like it....says it has an off flavor, although he never described it as soapy.

 

[bassboy1]

I'm without a doubt in the soap club. I don't care how little is in a dish I can taste it. Problem is the rest of the family loves it so I have to tolerate their cooking but they know when I'm cooking it's not going to happen. Same as with feta cheese, I can smell the old goat no matter how you try and ruin good food with it.

Now that's interesting. As mentioned before, I used to be firmly in the soap camp, but not so much anymore.

Furthermore, I used to despise feta, but don't mind it these days, and I think both started to happen around the same time. I wonder if there's some common flavor in the two of them?

 

[NCHillbilly]

Now that's interesting. As mentioned before, I used to be firmly in the soap camp, but not so much anymore.

Furthermore, I used to despise feta, but don't mind it these days, and I think both started to happen around the same time. I wonder if there's some common flavor in the two of them?

I don't know. But I love feta cheese, too.