Cilantro Haters, It's Not Your Fault

[lsanderson]

By HAROLD McGEE
Published: April 13, 2010

FOOD partisanship doesn’t usually reach the same heights of animosity as the political variety, except in the case of the anti-cilantro party. The green parts of the plant that gives us coriander seeds seem to inspire a primal revulsion among an outspoken minority of eaters. More

Comments

[maruad.livejournal.com]

My problem with cilantro stems from the fact that one of the first times I ate it, it was in a dish that contained something to which I was allergic. Sadly the second time I had an allergic reaction (both times partial throat closure) there was also cilantro in the dish.

I am not certain what the allergy was but both dishes were Vietmanese and contained some unusual tasting vinegar as well. I suspect the allergy was to whatever was flavouring the vinegar. Neither restaurant would reveal the list of ingredients.

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

I'm one of those people to whom cilantro tastes like soap -- sometimes moreso than others, for reasons I don't understand.

But it's ridiculously easy to grow, yet has a brief harvesting-period, and the many Hispanic & Asian people at my Community Gardens almost all fall into the common gardeners' trap of planting too much, at too-long intervals, so I tend to plant a little pinch of seeds every few weeks in order to give little bunches of the leaves away to anyone who happens to want it. That said.... Yup, it _is_ Strange in the way that some people like it & some don't, and in the vigor of their reactions to it.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

There are also a number of things which taste bitter to some people, but not others. Saccharin tastes bitter to me; it didn't to my mother.