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Whether you love or loathe cilantro, guacamole wouldn't be the same without it.
Cilantro: delightful element of delicious tacos and pico de gallo -- or horrid herb of death that smacks of soap? Like Facebook's Timeline and every episode of "Glee" ever, there's an undeniable "love it or hate it" quality about cilantro.
Actually, the haters are backed by some respected culinary tastemakers: Ina Garten (aka Barefoot Contessa) and Top Chef Fabio Viviani are the latest celebrity chefs to side with cilantrophobes, as they recently told our TODAY.com team. And Julia Child confessed to Larry King in a 2002 interview that she if she ever sees the herb in something she'd ordered, she would pick it out and "throw it on the floor." Harsh.
On Team Cilantro: behavioral neuroscientist Charles J. Wysocki, of the Morell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. Wysocki has been attempting to pinpoint the polarizing nature of coriander leaves -- better known, of course, as cilantro. Wysocki has studied preferences for cilantro in twins, both fraternal and identical. In identical twins, if one twin hates the smell of cilantro, the other is more likely to hate it; the flip side is true, too -- if an identical twin loves the smell, the other will likely love it, too.
"That does not hold for fraternal twins," explains Wysocki, adding that these findings "suggest very strongly that whatever it is that people underlies the preference is genetically determined."
Cilantro: Love it or loathe it?
But what is it about cilantro that some people find so intensely offensive? To begin to find out, Wysocki has used gas chromoatography, a contraption that uses heat to separates a complex mixture of molecules -- like cilantro -- piece by piece, allowing researchers to identify each individual compound, by using both the instrument and their own noses. The GC, as it's called, warms the cilantro, and as it heats up, that "soapy" smell is released. About 10 minutes later, the pleasantly herbaceous cilantro smell is emitted -- but the typical cilantro hater still can't smell it.
"What we think might be happening is the person who hates cilantro is, in fact, detecting the soapy odor. But what they seem to be missing is the nice, aromatic, green component," says Wysocki, who thinks the smell of cilantro is quite pleasant. "It’s possible that they have a mutated or even an absent receptor gene for the receptor protein that would interact with the very pleasant smelling compound."
Hear that, cilantro haters? You're mutants, says a scientist. (We kid, we kid.)
As the theory goes -- and Wysocki is quick to remind that this is still speculative -- cilantrophobes may not be able to pick up the scent of a compound called dodecenal, which gives the cilantro that lovely fresh scent we cilantrophiles know so well. It's even possible, Wysocki allows, that those soap-smellers may have something called specific anosmia, which is the lack of perception of an odor for a specific compound, when the smell is otherwise intact.
Readers, what about you? Whether you love cilantro or can't stand it, make your case in the comments. If you hate it -- is it because of the soapy smell/taste, or something else?
Related:
- Bites: Cilantro -- love it or loathe it?
- Phantom smells may be a sign of trouble
- Sniff test: Living without a sense of smell
Follow cilantro-lover and msnbc.com health editor Melissa Dahl on Twitter: @melissadahl.
Want more weird health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.
Leave a Comment:
i am not a fan of cilantro, never have been. but my daughter actually becomes ill when she eats it.
I'm not a fan of cilantro but I would not say it tastes like soap. I have never heard it described that way. I describe it as just unpleasant with a hint of bitter. A tiny hint of cilantro is good but it should be the 3rd, 4th, or 5th ingredient I taste, not the 1st.
It's often a source of friction at home when making certain dishes. The wife likes to put in the cilantro and while I can tolerate small amounts, it just seems to taint an otherwise good mixture. The same goes for dill.
Put it in a small bowl on the table as a condiment, then she can enjoy it while your dish remains blissfully cilantro free. Same goes for the dill.
BTW, Love dill, hate cilantro. Guess there are a lot of variations out there.
If a person doesn't like a few things with a particular flavor -- like coffee and cilantro, perhaps -- I can accept that this may well be due to genetic influences. But my husband has quite the babified palate, eats like a toddler, and I admit, it drives me bananas. It's childish, spoiled, and nonadaptive. I've also noticed people with palates like this often use words like "yucky" and "gross."
Foodlvr, you're a better woman than I, lol! I had several "deal breakers" when I was in the dating game. Most were of the usual sort, i.e., "must want children" and "sense of humor." However, after dating men who had, as you termed it, a "babified" palate (and realizing that this, for them at least, was a trait learned in childhood after meeting their respective families), I added "no picky eaters" to my list for two reasons. One, cooking for a truly picky eater is a constant struggle, both at home and abroad. Two, I didn't want to encourage pickiness in my potential offspring. While kids will be picky at times, their palates are in their developmental years. What tastes good during babyhood might not be appealing in the later childhood years and vice versa. I didn't want the man of the house discouraging the trial of new foods by not eating them himself. As it turned out, I had the luck to find a man who not only has a wonderful sense of humor and loves children, but who is also a man who will eat just about anything. No olives or bleu cheese (or chicken mole, as I found out early in our marriage), but everything else is a go as far as the dinner table is concerned.
My best friend (half Thai, half Swede) LOVES it. For me, it's "meh", I can tolerate it, but I don't love it or hate it. Actually, I guess it's kind of growing on me. My oldest daughter LOVES it! I don't know about the other two.
May I say, not related to the cilantro issue, that this is the most CIVILISED discussion I've seen on a forum of this type. Such a nice change from what I usually see, with people being so mean and nasty to each other. Made me smile!
My wife and I love cilantro, but I can definitely see where the "soapy" smell can come from. I've had cilantro sit in the fridge a day too long, and the wilty-muddy smell that comes off it isn't nearly as nice as when it's firm, fresh, and finely chopped. I could imagine that it's probably similar to certain things I can't stand, at least for some people. I find that cinnamon irritates me, while most people love it.
I absolutely despise the smell & taste of cilantro. I can smell it from a mile away. I can also taste the slightest bit in any food & as soon as that happens I will not eat anything on my plate. My mom used to try to lie to me & tell me that it wasn't in my food but that never worked lol
For me it used to hit me as such an overwhelming flavor that totally spoiled a dish, but over the past 2 years as it keeps getting put into everything, I have learned to sort of ignore it. I would not choose to put it into something that I am making, but can now tolerate it. I am glad to finally understand how something so offensive to me can be so delightful to my foodie friends.
I find the taste bitter and unpleasant, but if there is not too much I can eat it buried in something like salsa. More importantly though I have been told by several doctors and nutritionists that it is inflammatory to the intestines and people with a tendancy to IBD, IBS or colitis should absolutely not eat it.
Was that response "all sarcasm" as well? :-)
Was that response "all sarcasm" as well? :-)
Cilantro, to me, has a wonderful and unique flavor. It certainly doesn't belong in everything, but it soooo adds to those things it's good at complementing.
Interesting about the commonality of the description to those who dislike it. Also, the seeming similarities of those who dislike both cilantro and coffee. I love coffee as well as cilantro.
However, in pregnancy, I had a complete and total aversion to coffee, also onions...(hadn't heard of cilantro by that point)
Stop
it. Just stop this insanity. There are actually people who don't like this
aromatic and alimentary herb? I mean this from the deepest, most sincere part
of my soul: I genuinely feel sorry for those who don't enjoy cilantro. I've
never felt this way about an herb before--legal or not. What it really comes
down to is optimism or pessimism. I don't buy this selective receptor specific
anosmia pseudoscience because that wouldn't explain why so many people who
previously despised cilantro finally saw the light and began loving this manna.
Here's the answer: cilantro has a strong flavor, and picky eaters don't like
new, strong flavors--simple as that. Not because they lack the biological
faculties to sense the favorable molecules (my, that would mean a lot of
mutations. Sigh, another study with wasted funds.) Let's use our brains people:
not everyone likes chocolate, coffee, ketchup, or grenadine but that doesn't
mean they lack taste receptors for each food's constituent molecules--what a ridiculous theory.
Sorry, but you're completely wrong. There ARE definite differences in the way we taste and smell things. Some people can taste the strong bitterness of phenylthiocarbamide, others can't detect it. Some can smell the floral aroma of freesias, others find them odorless. (I can't detect either one, BTW)
It isn't just a matter of "not liking new, strong flavors" either. I'm a very adventurous eater, as a child I liked tasting lemon juice - straight. I love dill pickles, exotic Chinese seasonings, Mexican food, and I'm game to try almost anything at least once. But I do not like the musty odor of cilantro, and it hasn't changed in years. Fortunately I have found fresh salsas that don't use it, so I can still enjoy Mexican cooking.
Gag--gag---gag. Should be served on the side so that those of us that really can't stand it have a choice. That is how my daughter-in-law does it at family functions. It is called respect for others. Wish we could see more of this in our society.
You've learned to "tolerate" it? But you otherwise "can't stand it"? You're "not a fan" so you "despise" it and find it "offensive." Nonadaptive is right; what a generation of picky, pretentious, and fragile connoisseurs we've all become. It's strange how I've never heard a Somolian, Hatian, or Cambodian complain about not being able to "tolerate" an herb in their food-- that's probably because ANYTHING tastes good when you're starving. Try fasting for two weeks and then having a plate of lemon chicken sprinkled with fresh cilantro-- I GUARANTEE you will come out a fan of cilantro.
Why would anyone want to ruin a perfectly good lemon chicken with cilantro? I'd just scrape of the horrid stuff and eat what wasn't tainted. Now lemon, there's something delicious!
I have always been a big big fan of cilantro. My wife introduced me to fresh dill and wow! now I have two loves that I smother almost every dish in. Ohhh la la.
The word 'Cilantrophobe' is not accurate. I am not afraid of cilantro. I just can't stand it. There is nothing new in this article. This news has been all over the 'I Hate Cilantro' web page.
As for me, cilantro does not taste or smell like soap. It has a horrible smell, and tastes like death.
BTW -- That Julia Child sure knew what she was talking about (and not just about cilantro).
Another cilantro lover here. But I have something to add. I've grown my own cilantro, and I have noticed both the pleasant and the "soapy" taste from different leaves on the same plant. In my experience, the younger, greener leaves have the better flavor, while they seem to take on the soapy flavor once the plant begins to produce flowers.
The seeds have a different flavor than the leaves, so it has a different name - Coriander.
all you cilantro haters here is the cure!
Cilantro has an acrid, metallic, soapy taste. I can detect nothing pleasant or herby about it.
Sometimes I have had salsa with cilantro and it doesn't taste soapy. Maybe it's cooked? Maybe the acid from the tomatoes and chiles does something to cancel out the soap taste? I don't know.
It does bother me that I can't taste the good taste. I love food. I can dissect tastes and figure out ingredients. I can reverse-engineer restaurant recipes and cook them at home. I depend on my sense of taste for a lot of the things I love to do most.
So the thought that there's a section of the taste "spectrum" that I'm blind to... really bothers me.
I know what you mean, but just like someone who is colorblind, there isn't anything you or I can do about it yet. Maybe someday there will be a cure...
You could substitute celery leaf for cilantro, looks the same but tastes much better!
I usually add flat leaf parsley, but celery leaf isn't a bad idea either. :)