# Cilantro **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281 "2013-05-02T01:45:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/41 "2013-05-02T13:33:12Z")
Well, I don’t hate it, but it is way overpowering when used in “normal” amounts. Put in about a third of what the recipe calls for, and I’m fine. Celery is the same for me. My wife can hardly stand to be in the same room as cilantro, although we love Mexican. Go figure. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/42 "2013-05-02T13:33:33Z")
Cilantro was an acquired taste for me, but I love it now. I grow it and crave large amounts of it in certain dishes. We live in a suburb with a big Korean-American population, and I’ve been told by some of my Vietnamese in-laws that Koreans tend to hate cilantro, so the local pho places either leave it out or serve it on the side. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/43 "2013-05-02T13:52:09Z")
I voted other- it tastes like a mix of kerosene scented, rotten grapefruit rind with strong over notes of plain Barbasol. No, I don’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/44 "2013-05-02T14:16:30Z")
Cilantro is vile beyond human comprehension. I’d rather season my food with Dawn. Parsley and cilantro do not taste in any way similar. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/45 "2013-05-02T14:35:37Z")
Tastes like soap, but man! I love the taste of soap! ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/46 "2013-05-02T14:38:06Z")
I don’t think it tastes like soap to me, but it’s definitely overpowering, in the same way I would say raw onions are overpowering. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/47 "2013-05-02T14:46:39Z")
Love it. I don’t think there is such a thing as “too much cilantro.” It’s part of the reason I love fresh salsa (and hate, or at least am indifferent to, jarred salsa). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/48 "2013-05-02T14:55:23Z")
I like it in moderation, like most things. ---
**Author:** ![geneb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e4f/32.png) [@geneb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geneb)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/49 "2013-05-02T15:03:32Z")
Wow… I have never met a single person in my life who didn’t like cilantro. I’m flabbergasted at how many people here despise it. Personally, I would very much enjoy eating a bowl of pico de gallo with nothing but a spoon. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/50 "2013-05-02T15:06:29Z")
I voted the last option – I hate it, and it tastes like someone tried to poison my food, but it doesn’t taste like _soap_ to me. It just tastes (and smells) toxic, like if you were foraging for food in the wild and you tasted this plant, you’d spit it out because it’s clearly not meant to be eaten. Even a small amount ruins a dish. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/51 "2013-05-02T15:11:51Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Cilantro is the Spanish name for coriander. In the US, the leafy green is known as “cilantro” and the seeds are known as “coriander” or “coriander seeds.” In the UK (and other English-speaking countries outside the US, although I’m not sure about Canada), the leafy green is known as “coriander” and the seeds are specifically referred to as such. > > They taste quite different. Cilantro has that soap/stinkbug/green/fresh flavor to it. Coriander seed has a distinct citrussy kind of note to it, along with a general earth spiciness. That clears it up - thank you. I was picturing the green stuff when I voted, but I didn’t realize coriander seeds were from the same plant. For what it’s worth, I voted cilantro “tastes normal, but is just OK”. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/52 "2013-05-02T15:38:17Z")
I find it tastes like dish soap, with a lingering bitter aftertaste. If it’s just raw bits of cilantro in something, I can sometime eat around it, as long as I don’t bite into any of it. The flavor is less pronounced if it’s cooked, but it spreads through the whole dish, making it–to put it mildly–unpalatable. I understand that a lot of people like it, and I don’t begrudge them their enjoyment of it. My only problem with it is that it’s become trendy to put it in or on every damn thing, even in types of cuisine that normally don’t involve it. Worse, sometimes they don’t _tell_ you upfront that it’s there, so you order a new, tasty-sounding dish only to find it contaminated with the Vile Herb. Salsa, pico, and so forth, so be it–but what the hell is it doing on my pizza? Or in my steak and mushroom pie? Or mashed potatoes? > [@Lightnin](#): > > The only problem I have with cilantro is that the local invasive Brown Marmorated Stink Bug smells a lot like how cilantro tastes… I usually describe it as more of a dirty sweat-sock odor, but yes, stink-bug scent also applies. It’s a nasty, acrid funk. > [@pulykamell](#): > > They taste quite different. Cilantro has that soap/stinkbug/green/fresh flavor to it. Coriander seed has a distinct citrussy kind of note to it, along with a general earth spiciness. True. As much as I loathe cilantro, I don’t seem to have a problem with coriander seed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/53 "2013-05-02T15:41:53Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > True. As much as I loathe cilantro, I don’t seem to have a problem with coriander seed. Yeah, I’ve never heard of a distate for cilantro to translate into a distaste for the seed. They’re quite different flavors. It’s possible some people have aversions that overlap these two, but it’s not usual. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/54 "2013-05-02T16:44:38Z")
It tastes bitter and spicy, and I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/55 "2013-05-02T16:50:08Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > I love pico de gallo. I’ve never understood how cilantro can taste like soap to some people. Their salsa must suck ☹ . . . . Are you saying that it must suck to have salsa taste like soap, or that eating salsa without cilantro must suck? Because salsa tastes just fine without it. I voted other because it tastes like rotting meat to me. After repeated exposures, it’s less forceful than the first time. But it’s never been pleasant. Oh, and that article says “cilantrophobe genetics remain little known and aren’t under systematic investigation.” Not quite the same as “has only a small genetic component.” From the whole article, it sounds like tasting the ‘bad’ component is definitely genetic, but that you can train yourself to not be upset by tasting it. If it only tasted like soap, I might take a shot at learning to like or tolerate it. Rotting meat? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![krunen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@krunen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krunen)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/56 "2013-05-02T17:05:16Z")
It tastes like soap, but I love it! It does not taste “normal”, whatever that is. I had to take the first option. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/57 "2013-05-02T17:26:56Z")
'Nother vote for the “soapy but tolerable” group. I can always detect it, and it does have a soapy taste, but I can generally ignore it. (Always reminds me of my strange teenage complusion to lick soap in the shower.) A friend of mine, however, has an adversion so strong that a single leaf in a meal renders it inedible. Poor bastard is of Mexican descent, too, so he’s screwed when he goes home for holidays. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/58 "2013-05-02T18:20:48Z")
I really don’t like it, but it doesn’t taste like soap to me. It has more of a mowed weed flavor or something else that’s totally off-putting. I can tolerate a mere hint in salsa if it’s finely chopped, but when I see chefs on TV grabbing a handful to put in a single dish, I know that’s way too much for my tastes. I was never around it growing up, my first exposure was intense. A buddy and I were going to make a batch of roasted salsa; we roasted the tomatoes, onions, garlic, and peppers on a grill. Mulched it all together, the recipe called for something like 2 cups of fresh cilantro so we chopped that up and added it last. And that’s all we could taste, it was horribly overpowering. Ended up throwing the whole batch out. Not soap, but extremely overpowering unpleasantness. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/59 "2013-05-02T18:29:30Z")
The only time I didn’t like cilantro was when it came in a [tube](http://www.gourmetgarden.com/media/view/2129/US-organic-tube-cilantro-lge.jpg). Absolutely vile stuff. It’s like it was cilantro concentrate. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281/60 "2013-05-02T18:35:56Z")
Not to hijack the thread, I find all these mentions of “soap” and “dishwashing soap” interesting. I’ve never felt that way about cilantro. But one time, my daughter and I ordered a platter of broccoli and chicken at a Chinese restaurant, and we both noticed immediately a strong soapy taste, just as though someone had squirted a good jolt of Joy into the wok. I almost sent the dish back before I realized what we were tasting was actually … freshly grated ginger root! **YIK!** :mad: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cilantro/657281.md?page=4)