# Recently discovered cilantro.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468 "2015-06-13T23:13:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/1 "2015-06-13T23:13:28Z")
I can hardly believe I’ve been on this earth for so long and have walked through many-a produce sections of grocery stores and had no idea that this wonderful plant was there! I love the smell of it and at the moment have a bunch of it cooking on the stove along with chicken legs and mushroom soup in a big pot. It should be good to go in about 2.5 hours!🙂 Just curious if any of you are unfamiliar with this splendid plant? Any comments anyone has to share about this new discovery of mine (though earth-shaking it isn’t) are welcome to do so, thanks!!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/2 "2015-06-13T23:23:40Z")
Soapy taste comments in … ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/3 "2015-06-13T23:45:00Z")
I’m with you! Love it! Can’t get enough! Tastes like fresh, delicious, yumminess to me! ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/4 "2015-06-13T23:49:50Z")
If you’re familiar with the spice [coriander](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriander#/media/File:Coriander.png) you might be interested to learn it derives from the same plant (the dried fruits, often referred to as “seeds”). ---
**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:** [June 13, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/5 "2015-06-13T23:54:08Z")
It is wonderful in simple tacos, too. A little fried (with some salt) or grilled (salted) meat, with cilantro, raw onions and tortillas is all you need to start with. Just that simple combo makes me glad to be alive. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/6 "2015-06-13T23:59:25Z")
Apparently there’s no middle ground with cilantro. Either you love it, because it tastes fresh and green and lovely, or you hate it because it tastes like soap from a prison room floor. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/7 "2015-06-14T00:10:05Z")
> [@Dibbs](#): > > I love the smell of it and at the moment have a bunch of it cooking on the stove along with chicken legs and mushroom soup in a big pot. It should be good to go in about 2.5 hours!🙂 If you cook cilantro a long time, it loses a lot of its distinctive flavor. Try adding at the end of cooking, right before serving. If you really like cilantro, I think you will appreciate this method. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/8 "2015-06-14T00:46:45Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > If you cook cilantro a long time, it loses a lot of its distinctive flavor. Try adding at the end of cooking, right before serving. If you really like cilantro, I think you will appreciate this method. Thought about that but don’t like the idea of the heat being lost when lifting the lid. Also, I was thinking that by doing it the way I am it’ll infuse better with the other stuff. You’re probably right … because like the rules of English Grammar, for me figuring out how to cook food correctly is nearly all guess work.:o ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/9 "2015-06-14T00:54:45Z")
There is middle ground with cilantro. I do taste the soapy flavor, but have learned to appreciate cilantro anyway. In moderation, at least: Too much at once will still overwhelm other flavors with the soapiness. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/10 "2015-06-14T01:07:24Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > If you’re familiar with the spice [coriander](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriander#/media/File:Coriander.png) you might be interested to learn it derives from the same plant (the dried fruits, often referred to as “seeds”). Thanks! I shall see about picking some up.🙂 ---
**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:** [June 14, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/11 "2015-06-14T01:23:37Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Soapy taste comments in … Yeah, we’ve done cilantro threads before. See, for example, [If you like cilantro, how would you describe it?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=754398) and [Poll: Cilantro](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=689807). (For the record, I was one of the many who voted “It tastes normal to me, and I love it!”) ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/12 "2015-06-14T01:34:15Z")
> [@Dibbs](#): > > Thanks! I shall see about picking some up.🙂 Cool - it’s useful in dishes from cookies to curries, but tastes nothing like the leaves! - you can buy it whole or preground. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/13 "2015-06-14T01:46:16Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Soapy taste comments in … Interesting. Someone else in here mentioned it but I don’t detect it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/14 "2015-06-14T01:47:38Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > It is wonderful in simple tacos, too. A little fried (with some salt) or grilled (salted) meat, with cilantro, raw onions and tortillas is all you need to start with. Just that simple combo makes me glad to be alive. Thumbs Up on that! ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/15 "2015-06-14T01:50:19Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > If you cook cilantro a long time, it loses a lot of its distinctive flavor. Try adding at the end of cooking, right before serving. If you really like cilantro, I think you will appreciate this method. Yeah; I just had some of my creation and I used way too much and it overpowered the two cans of mushroom soup, sad to say. (I had it in the frig for a long time and thought I’d throw in the whole big bundle and not have to waste it that way, big mistake.:smack:) ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/16 "2015-06-14T01:52:28Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yeah, we’ve done cilantro threads before. See, for example, [If you like cilantro, how would you describe it?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=754398) and [Poll: Cilantro](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=689807). (For the record, I was one of the many who voted “It tastes normal to me, and I love it!”) I love the smell more than anything, but now suspect I’ll be thinking so much about the soapy taste … and will be less enthused about it.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/17 "2015-06-14T01:55:42Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Cool - it’s useful in dishes from cookies to curries, but tastes nothing like the leaves! - you can buy it whole or preground. In recent years I’ve noticed a magnificent taste/smell in a few different Mexican foods, including Mexican TV dinners, but have had no idea what exactly it is. So now I’m hoping this spice you’ve mentioned is it!🙂 ---
**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:** [June 14, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/18 "2015-06-14T01:56:24Z")
> [@Dibbs](#): > > I love the smell more than anything, but now suspect I’ll be thinking so much about the soapy taste … and will be less enthused about it.☹ If, as you mentioned above, you don’t detect a soapy taste, then don’t worry about it. It’s supposedly genetically determined whether or not it tastes “soapy” to you. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/19 "2015-06-14T02:29:48Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > If, as you mentioned above, you don’t detect a soapy taste, then don’t worry about it. It’s supposedly genetically determined whether or not it tastes “soapy” to you. Thanks. I don’t know if it matters, but, I always wash produce off (so maybe, or maybe not, that has something to do with me not noticing a soapy quality to it). ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468/20 "2015-06-14T03:28:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There is middle ground with cilantro. I do taste the soapy flavor, but have learned to appreciate cilantro anyway. In moderation, at least: Too much at once will still overwhelm other flavors with the soapiness. I’m in the middle ground too with cilantro but it really doesn’t taste soapy to me. For me, it doesn’t taste like much of anything (except maybe parsley). I won’t object to it being included in recipe but I won’t miss it if it’s not there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recently-discovered-cilantro/722468.md?page=2)