# A study on cilantro. With poll! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 24, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903 "2011-03-24T23:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/21 "2011-03-25T02:03:46Z")
It used to taste like soap to me, but I ate it anyway in homemade Salsa and now I love it. It grew on me, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/22 "2011-03-25T02:45:47Z")
I don’t like the way that cilantro tastes OR smells, and if I happen to eat something that has cilantro in it, I can tell right away even if there isn’t very much. To me it’s sort of like garlic in this respect, it becomes an overriding flavor and I can hardly taste the rest of the dish. Cilantro doesn’t taste like soap to me. I had never thought to describe the taste that way until I heard several people mention it. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/23 "2011-03-25T03:06:21Z")
I can taste the soapy notes, but only very faintly, and it oddly seems to harmonize in most things. So I’m cool with it. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/24 "2011-03-25T03:07:52Z")
Supertasting is just an overall hyper-sensitivity. There are also specific sensitivities which are either genetically coded or not. The author falls in between, sensing the bad scent, but not the good one. I note the author doesn’t say whether the other two sense the soap flavor. It’d be nice to know whether they sensed both, or only the good one. I’d also like to know whether the author likes coriander. Either way, soap. Cilantro is soap. I absoutely love coriander, which comes from the seeds. I’ve also had the roots, which I liked. The leaves are horrid. ---
**Author:** ![Craneop2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Craneop2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Craneop2)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/25 "2011-03-25T06:57:06Z")
With cilantro its either fresh or dried leaves. Dried leaves like you would get from a bottle are strictly vile. Find a fresh bunch of leaves in the produce aisle and fling a few fresh chopped leaves in a pot of pinto beans and it is glorious! But be carefull. it can be overwhelming. Fresh seems to be the deal maker for me. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/26 "2011-03-25T08:34:11Z")
I love LOVE LOVE coriander (cilantro is a weird furren word that means nothing to me). Can’t get enough of it. It’s one of the reasons I go gaga for curry. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/27 "2011-03-25T09:46:50Z")
I LOVE fresh cilantro; until I started hanging around here, I couldn’t imagine anyone having anything negative to say about it. I wonder if we (lovers vs. haters) are wired differently. mmm ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/28 "2011-03-25T09:55:35Z")
The tiniest little bit ruins everything, like a poop in the pool. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/29 "2011-03-25T10:18:54Z")
> [@Raginghormonal](#): > > It used to taste like soap to me, but I ate it anyway in homemade Salsa and now I love it. It grew on me, I guess. Ditto, soapy taste but I like it anyway, we get through a load of it. ---
**Author:** ![Charley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/97f17d/32.png) [@Charley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charley)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/30 "2011-03-25T11:26:06Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I actually don’t mind the smell… but to say I “dislike” the flavor is a grotesque understatement. I _loathe_ the flavor, I _detest_ it, from my point of view it might as well be trimmings of Satan’s asshairs, it tastes _that horrific_. > > But the smell? Doesn’t’ bother me at all. Just anonymous green smell. > > So I would have liked to see “Don’t mind the smell, absolutely loathe, detest, and hate the taste”. This exactly. I voted ‘like the smell, not the taste’ but I don’t really remember every smelling it. The taste is unbelievably awful though. For most foodstuffs I dislike, I can at least understand that there are things about them that other people like. For coriander/cliantro, it seems to me that it is essentially not an edible foodstuff - I have a sneaky suspicion that when people say they like it, they’re playing an elaborate joke on me. I’ve never tasted the soapyness, it tastes like ashtray sweepings to me, if anything. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/31 "2011-03-25T12:45:10Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > OK, if it’s the same as coriander, then I like both the smell and the flavour. It’s the same plant, but the flavor is completely different. Coriander is the seeds, but cilantro is the leaves. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/32 "2011-03-25T12:50:43Z")
I looked up a home test for supertasting, but I couldn’t find one. But the description is different than I thought. I thought it just meant you had better than average ability to distinguish tastes, which I believe I do. But if it’s just a specific taste, I may not. I do know that my sister is extremely sensitive to bitter tasting things, and she still loves cilantro. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/33 "2011-03-25T12:55:34Z")
I love it. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/34 "2011-03-25T13:00:38Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I voted “Other” because I have no idea what Cilantro smells or tastes like. Or indeed what it even is. Yep. Voted ‘other’ for the same reasons. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/35 "2011-03-25T13:02:42Z")
OK, now I know what it is (yeah, I should have read further through the thread), I say I like the smell and the taste but have no idea if I’m a supertaster. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/36 "2011-03-25T13:16:10Z")
They’re confounding the two issues. The hatred doesn’t arrive from being a supertaster. Non-supertasters often dislike (or more accurately, take no joy in consuming), things with subtle flavors. (They tend to like foods based more on youthful associations and texture.) It could be that the people who dislike something like cilantro so much are perceiving only one part of its cumulative sensory effect, because they are in fact non-supertasters. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/37 "2011-03-25T13:33:42Z")
> [@Charley](#): > > For coriander/cliantro, it seems to me that it is essentially not an edible foodstuff - I have a sneaky suspicion that when people say they like it, they’re playing an elaborate joke on me. I agree completely. I can’t stand even being in the same room in which it’s cut because the smell is so noxious. It smells and tastes like a rotting poisonous plant. If I were a cave-woman gathering herbs in the forest and discovered a cilantro patch, everything about it would scream TOXIC DO NOT EAT and I would avoid it from then on. I have no idea if I’m a supertaster or not. I don’t have a sharp sense of smell, so by association, I assume I don’t have a sharp sense of taste. Cilantro supercedes that. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/38 "2011-03-25T13:53:37Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It’s the same plant, but the flavor is completely different. Coriander is the seeds, but cilantro is the leaves. Only for Americans. In international english, coriander is the whole plant, including the leaves. Cilantro means nothing to non-American english speakers. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/39 "2011-03-25T14:10:01Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Only for Americans. In international english, coriander is the whole plant, including the leaves. Cilantro means nothing to non-American english speakers. I wish folks would say where they are from when they post stuff like that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903/40 "2011-03-25T14:12:59Z")
I discovered my hatred for cilantro when I had dinner at a girlfriend’s mother’s house. Apparently I had never had it before, and when we were served salad I sat there wondering if the salad had been made with rotten greens. I forced down what I could in order to be polite, but just barely. Later I carefully approached the subject with the girlfriend. I think I asked her what greens were in the salad. When she got to cilantro I found out more about it. I still hate it, but at least I know my enemy! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-study-on-cilantro-with-poll/575903.md?page=3)