"Can We Compromise on Cilantro?" Topic

I was about to tick 'Never heard of it' but googled it to see what it was and found that in the UK it is normally refereed to as 'Coriander' and my daughter grows it so I eat it regularly and think that it's OK, Nothing special.

x42

I love cilantro on rice in Mexican cooking.

Love it but like many seasonings best used with moderation

Even small amounts in food, that's all I can taste and it tastes horrible.

I'm with Julia Childs regarding the place of cilantro in the kitchen:
"It tastes like dirt and it belongs on the floor!"

I'm a bit weird in that I can taste some of what people hate in it (it tastes strongly of soap), but I still like it.
I'll even eat a stalk or two when I give it to my guinea pig (who loves the stuff).

+1 MiniMo.

Lawn clippings soaked in dish detergent.

Did Julia Child say that? That's hilarious!

[Edit – I looked it up. Close enough. Funny how I thought this debate was a new one. Not so.]

Well… if you like eating soap.

Tastes just like dish soap.

It's not really a matter of moderation. It has to do with taste sensors. Most people can taste a variety of the flavors in cilantro, and so it is a blend, and thus, fine (in most cases).

But some lack a certain taste sense, and for those people, they only get a strong sense of soap or dirt.

I brought home a great salsa recently. I checked the ingredients at the store, and no cilantro, so picked some up. No little flakes of green in it at all. My girlfriend had one tip of a chip dipped in it, nibbled off the tip, and told me "There's cilantro in there."

"No way!" says I, since I checked. I checked again, and the very last ingredient was cilantro. Like I said, not even a visible flake of green in the salsa, but she could taste soap.

As an aside, I've had some DNA testing done of myself and her daughter, and both of our reports said we should have no issues with cilantro (and we do not). So mother has an issue, but not her daughter.

It doesn't taste like dirt to me. I usually describe the flavor as what coconut would taste like if coconut tasted like binturong fewmets.

LT

Strange. I've never heard anyone express any strong opinions on coriander before. Or even discuss it!

Maybe I just move in lowbrow circles…

Cilantro is amazing. Fresh. Super in any kind of Mexican food, in salads. Chop it up, the smell is mood-brightening.

Dried cilantro or coriander is a snore. Gotta be fresh. It's cheap, less than a buck a bunch. Buy a new one every day . . . er week.

Interesting question. It smells and tastes differently to different people.

link

To me it smells like a used, damp dishrag that's been left in the sink overnight.

Dried coriander does not trigger the genetic tastes-awful button.

If I walk through the produce aisle at the supermarket when they've just misted the cilantro, I gag on the smell.

I like Cilantro, but my wife and her sister both absolutely hate the stuff. This means that anything with Cilantro in it is MINE, ALL MINE.