[CH] cilantro

Kit Anderson (kitridge@bigfoot.com)
Sat, 21 Nov 1998 22:03:55 -0500

Rain wrote;

> This is only on topic because of how common an accompaniment cilantro
> has become to all things chileheaded...but can somebody out there who's
> into food chemistry explain to me, other than just that likes and
> dislikes vary, why fresh cilantro tastes lovely to some people and to
> others (like me) is exactly as nauseating as taking a honkin' big bite
> out of a bar of soap?  
> x
> Even the smell makes me queasy unless the stuff is really disguised (a
> *small* bit in a hot, oniony salsa, for instance), and I'm wondering if
> it really does taste/smell different to the people who like it--i.e., if
> there's some chemical factor like the one for phenylketonuria.  


I read that 20% think that cilantro tastes like soap. These
folks never get over that. Other people will dislike it at
first and then develop a liking for the stuff. I personally
use it in pesto. My mother thinks it tastes like Tide.

I am moving from Maine to Gaylord, Michigan. I cruised
through the produce aisle at the Gaylord Buy-Low and found
no jalapeņos or cilantro. I think I'm in trouble.
-- 

St. Kit