POLL: Cilantro: Love It, Hate It, Don't Know, Don't Care?

[Finster]

I went with the is it bacon option because ....well, bacon.
In reality, I can take it or leave it. I don't us it at home because the Mrs can't stand it.
can't stand it to the point that when we were first married, I had a small herb garden planted in pots on out back patio. the boss made me get rid of the cilantro because she couldn't tolerate even the smell of it.

[HawkerXP]

Steven Raichlen can't cook without it!

[Michael_in_TX]

Everyone say it with me! "...chopped fresh ciii-laan--tro...."

[Jerod Broussard]

Like it, don't buy it.....consume if available.

[jfmorris]

It used to really bother me. These days I can tolerate it and don't notice the soapiness as much, and it is fine on street tacos and such. I use it myself if a recipe calls for it, in moderation.

Unfortunately, I have one son-in-law who likes to make his own salsa and bring it to every party. His salsa is pretty gross to me, as it is overpowered with mega amounts of cilantro and raw onion, all processed in a food processor. All things in moderation I say. I just pass when I see his salsa, and don't say anything to anyone.

[RonB]

I often sub cilantro for parsley 'cause I like the taste of cilantro more than parsley, (especially in chimichurri).

[RustyHaines]

The Devil's parsley! Tastes just like Dawn dish soap. And unfortunately it is everywhere now. And yes I'm a grumpy old man now!

[N227GB]

I was having dinner in a nice restaurant off the Las Vegas strip 30 years ago. I sent back two plates because I thought the kitchen staff had not properly rinsed the soap off the plates and utensils. This was a time when restaurateurs decided American palates were ready for something more daring than Chi-Chi’s. At the time, I had never heard of the OR6A2 gene.


You can acclimate to it to some extent. However, this week, I made a small batch of Aji Verde sauce. The recipe called for one cup of “tightly packed” cilantro, so I substituted fresh Thai basil.


From the Cleveland Clinic:

If you can’t stand the taste of cilantro, your genes may be to blame. You likely have a specific gene called OR6A2 that makes you super-sensitive to a component of this herb — and, yes, can make it taste like soap.

“Those who dislike cilantro tend to have this gene, which detects the aldehyde part of cilantro as a soapy smell and taste,” Dr. Vyas explains.

Aldehydes are organic materials with a distinct chemical structure. The pairing of a carbon atom with an oxygen atom leaves room for two more bonds. If one of those bonds is with a hydrogen atom, it’s called an aldehyde; if neither of the bonds is with hydrogen, it becomes a ketone.

[randy.56]

Interesting we grow it, use it a lot.

[Panhead John]

Sydney Sweeney has great genes, so she must like cilantro.

[realdocBBQ]

I didn't used to like cilantro much, I felt during the late 90's/early 2000's people were overusing it in everything. Maybe I was right, it may have been a trendy thing. Or I think restaurants didn't know HOW to use it appropriately, it wasn't that I didn't like it, I felt they were using it too heavily. Wife and I used to talk about this and we both felt the same way (this was when we were dating or first married).

Now I love it, I use it quite a bit, but we do a lot of Southwestern style fare in my house. And since I do 90%+ of the cooking... wife likes it, too, but not as heavily as I do. Same goes for chiles, salt, hot sauce, onion, etc. I've probably just burned some of my taste buds out, so I need more to taste it - like old people and their cologne/perfume. lol

So, yeah I like it.


Last nite's dinner.

[FireMan]

Guess where I stand on the issue.
Never was a fan of it until l married into it.
Now it is a staple in our kitchen. Use it, use it, use it. Mmmm good .

[DavidNorcross]

I like it and grow it. Use it in many recipes. Would not say I love it though.

[Purc]

Love the stuff. We had tacos at a friend's house last night and this subject can up for discussion. I showed the poll on the Pit to the group.

[Huskee]

Very cool!

[STEbbq]

I love it and eat it with everything possible. Amanda is a soap person so this is one of those difficult conversations in our marriage. She is kind enough to buy fresh cilantro when we need it though so I must be a decent person.

[hoovarmin]

I absolutely love it. So glad I don't have the gene that makes it taste like soap.

[Richard Chrz]

I used to hate it, now i love it and use it in a lot of meals we cook. We use the stems also.

[klflowers]

It is strange. I used to absolutely love cilantro. Then it started to taste like soap to me about 5 or 6 years ago and I stopped using it. Now it is starting to turn again. I have had it in a couple of restaurant dishes over the last year and I didn’t mind it, and I picked up some salsa in HEB that I loved, and it was full of cilantro. Or was that just because it was from HEB????

[jayjordan]

Yes, HEB cilantro is special “non-soapy” variety! 😀