Cilantro, am I the only one who...

Tastes like soap to me. I hate the stuff :lol:

its such a lovely earthy flavour , an absolute must in indian cooking ...yum

see we dont seem to have the same over use of if over here
you see it in thai food, indian food and occassionaly in other things but not much
i think its something you either love or hate
the first time i ate it i didnt like it that much , but doing some indian cooking classes i really developed a taste for it and i just really enjoy the vibrant pungent earthy odour and taste of it

well if the establishment your in is worth its salt then its normally not a problem to leave it out, as its normally added right at the the end of cooking so that you get the nice freshness of it ,
you could be having an allergic reaction to it if its giving you that strong a reaction to it

I can't speak for the tuber salad, but cilantro is traditional and common in all sorts of Mexican food, including ceviche and "Mexican rice;" it's also traditional and common in most spring roll producing cuising cuisines -- Thai and Vietnamese among them. Hawaii, with its strong Asian food influences is very friendly to cilantro, so "Hawaiian Ceviche" is a double whammy.

As you wrote, cilantro is becoming increasingly popular in all sorts of "American" food. It's not Bobby Flay, certain ethnic cuisines in which cilantro is very popular are fusing into the broader American with greater prominence. While some spices are merely trendy. I'm afraid cilantro has moved beyond trend, into "staple," and "classic," and will become increasingly common as American cuisine continues to evolve and more fully absorbs Asian and Latin American cuisines.

Some people grow into the taste, and learn to love it. Others simply don't. To paraphrase what you've already said, it's sometimes not "a matter of 'taste'" but a physiological reaction. The current state of the dogma is that it has to do with an enzyme produced by the eater, the concentration of which is genetic. Wiki talks about it a little, but won't give you much more information than I did.

Out of curiosity do you find the taste of cilantro objectionable when it's a part of something complex and very spicy in other ways? A spicy green salsa for instance? Chile verde? Thai green curry? Or, is it only the milder dishes in which cilantro can push its taste forward that are difficult? And what about coriander?

FWIW, cilantro is a member of the carrot family and native to the Mediterranean and to southwest Asia.

BDL

I can't speak for the tuber salad, but cilantro is traditional and common in all sorts of Mexican food, including ceviche and "Mexican rice;" it's also traditional and common in most spring roll producing cuising cuisines -- Thai and Vietnamese among them. Hawaii, with its strong Asian food influences is very friendly to cilantro, so "Hawaiian Ceviche" is a double whammy.

As you wrote, cilantro is becoming increasingly popular in all sorts of "American" food. It's not Bobby Flay, certain ethnic cuisines in which cilantro is very popular are fusing into the broader American with greater prominence. While some spices are merely trendy. I'm afraid cilantro has moved beyond trend, into "staple," and "classic," and will become increasingly common as American cuisine continues to evolve and more fully absorbs Asian and Latin American cuisines.

Some people grow into the taste, and learn to love it. Others simply don't. To paraphrase what you've already said, it's sometimes not "a matter of 'taste'" but a physiological reaction. The current state of the dogma is that it has to do with an enzyme produced by the eater, the concentration of which is genetic. Wiki talks about it a little, but won't give you much more information than I did.

Out of curiosity do you find the taste of cilantro objectionable when it's a part of something complex and very spicy in other ways? A spicy green salsa for instance? Chile verde? Thai green curry? Or, is it only the milder dishes in which cilantro can push its taste forward that are difficult? And what about coriander?

FWIW, cilantro is a member of the carrot family and native to the Mediterranean and to southwest Asia.

BDL

Like everything else in cooking it has it's place. And like most things in general, if it's not kept in context to the dish or style, it can be over used. ;)

When we were vegetable gardening (as opposed to "free range" rodent raising), we planted a small section (8" square) of cilantro.

Shirt grew voraciously.

The odor of that plant soon became overpowering amongst the rest of the vegetation.

To the point where it no longer became an enjoyable addition to salsa, sauces, or any other applications.

It just stunk...

Nowadays, it's almost like food preparers are using it like parsley. A little sprig here, another there, and pretty soon it overwhelms the whole dinner...

A little bit goes a very long way...

Most restaurants are pretty flexible and put your tastes above an allegiance to whatever it is they call their particular aesthetic. That's the windy way of saying, "Call ahead." If you can't, tell the host or hostess as soon as you walk in. That way the server will come to the table prepared to offer you options you'll like.

When I was cooking I enjoyed the challenge of cooking work-arounds. "No. 6 wants a vegan pulled pork sandwich on a gluten free biscuit. You do it."

Most restaurants try to stay on the moneymaking end of the "hospitality industry." If it becomes an issue, they'll find ways of offering non-cilantro choices. For now, let them know it's an issue for you.

BDL

I am not fond of the taste of it either and the smell of cilantro makes me sick..

i hear ya

it's like a curse from the 80's

My wife thinks it makes food spicy hot.

I think it has a contradictory cool pepperyness with out crossing over into mint. I like it. My kids don't seem to care one way or the other.

I prefer parsley(curly leaf) to "cilantro" (aka coriander) as far as the fresh leaves are concerned - I neither hate it nor love it, will tolerate it. But, give me dried, ground coriander root anyday in a spicy dish -YES. The tastes between the 2 are world's apart.

Cilantro leaves have been much overdone in some establishments unfortunately, and hence probably have given it a bad name. I guess its a bit like garlic - you like it or you don't.

DC

ya know its only called cilantro in america , everywhere else its called coriander , strange huh

I like cilantro, but only in a few dishes. Fresh tomato based salsas, ceviche, spring rolls ( especially with shrimp ) and oddly enough, a few sprigs stuffed into the cavity of cornish hens when I smoke them. Otherwise I never touch the stuff.

mjb.

It gets confusing because here in the UK we call cilantro coriander - the leaves, the seeds and the root! I buy it in huge bunches in a local Indian shop. It makes a great breath-freshener, just like parsley!

Can't imagine cooking an Indian dish or Thai without coriander leaves, which I usually add at the last minute.

I read somewhere, can't remember where, that coriander is a little like asparagus, ie some people pee green, asparagus smelling water - whilst others who've eaten it, don't! The reaction to coriander appears to be the same, love it or hate it!

For me, it's too much cinnamon in savoury foods. HATE IT. I was recently on a Greek island where there had been a strong Venetian presence, and they were so heavy handed with the cinnamon that I was unable to eat a few dishes that I usually LOVE! I don't mind a 'hint' - but when it's added by the tablespoon?!

>ya know its only called cilantro in america , everywhere else its called coriander , strange huh<

In America, Tessa, "cilantro" is used to describe the fresh leaves. "Coriander" is used for the seeds. Because the tastes are totally different, this is one time I feel the differentiation makes sense. There is also dried cilantro available from some spice companies. It's the dried herb. But I don't know what purpose it serves, because it has no flavor at all.

Everyone's been talking about Mexican, Southeast Asian, and Indian cuisine as big uses of the stuff. North African also should be included.

Personally, I love the flavor imparted by the seeds, but don't care all that much for the taste and aroma of the leaves. Part of that comes from its overuse in particular dishes. That is, a dish that should use a tablespoon or two of the chopped herb gets a half bunch instead. And then all you taste is the cilantro.

In most recipes that call for the herb I cut way back on the amount, or even eliminate it entirely.

From a cheffish standpoint you can do a lot in terms of moderating it but not losing it by mixing chopped fresh cilantro with fresh parsley. Parsley is kind of the "activated charcoal" of herbs and really tones the cilantro down a lot without killing it entirely -- and simultaneously brings out the freshness and puts a lot of green on the plate.

My ex was sensitive to cilantro, although probably not as much as some of the people here.

BDL

Hey

I'm glad you posted this one. I like is when it is subtle, the trouble is that most times its over done... and makes things taste "yuky"<---technical term.
so mosty I don't eat things with it in. things like savechi, and salads I steer clear of.

I definitely empathise with the OP. While I can tolerate cilantro in small doses as part of a much more flavorful dish, too much of it can actually turn me off from eating.

Suman is an Indian woman who taught me to make Samosas and pakoras. She grew coriander in her allotment and brought it to the flat i had at the time so i could add it to the afore mentioned goodies. The pong off it made me physically sick.
It took years for me to tollerate it and now i cant live without it

It is over used i think, but in the right context it's what makes the dish.

stink bugs

I've said this before but no one ever commented. Have you ever smelt a squashed "stink bug" - those beige-greenish flat bugs that stink if you squash them? that, to me, is the exact taste of cilantro. I, too, can pick up the taste from a myriad of tastes and in complex and spicy cuisines like indian and mexican (i have a very sensitive nose) and it absolutely and irreversibly ruins any dish it's in. I can eat practically anything, but cilantro is different. In fact i rarely will agree to eat in a mexican or indian restaurant because of it. (I do prefer to taste the food over the spices, so those cuisines don;t appeal to me that much, but i can enjoy some food that has strong tastes, like clove or pepper or garlic and if i ask to have the dish without cilantro i can enjoy them. But not with cilantro.
Stranger still is the fact that one of my favorite spices is the seed of the cilantro plant, coriander. I love it. It has no resemblance to cilantro. (i would imagine most of the chemicals would be the same? or not?)

Another flavor that ruins everything for me is bitter almond (amaretto). I could be starving but i couldn;t eat something with bitter almond. They say it tastes like cyanide, though i wonder who tasted it and lived to tell ("arggh ackhhh, akhhh! who put bitter almond in my coffee?" quiver, plop - dead.) Anyway, some people love it, like cilantro. There are flavors that i dislike, but they don't absolutely ruin food for me, i just prefer not to eat them - but these two are different.

To me, cilantro is one of the "freshest" tastes there is. There might be a better term for it, but I would never describe it as "soapy" or "stinky". Maybe I'm lucky to have the "pro-cilantro" gene or whatever it is :crazy:

I grew up in India, and it's interesting to me that when I was there I didn't care one way or the other about it, and now I like it in a lot of things.