I'm one of those people who thinks cilantro tastes like soap, and I like it

[The Wandering Harper]

I told a friend and she was like "cilantro: all the fun of eating soap with none of the digestive distress."
When I heard about washing the mouth with soap as a punishment when I was a kid, well,
of course I had to find out what soap tastes like!
I liked it, but the burning of the lye put me off

[karijofromMT]

1. Re: Cilantro

I love it, and it most definitely tastes like soap. I hated it when I first tasted it, yet for some reason I wanted to like it, so I kept eating it. After about 30 times of eating it, I developed a taste for it and now will not cook or eat Asian or Mexican or Indian food without it.

[The Wandering Harper]

2. Welcome to DU

[MaryMagdaline]

3. Same. I taste the soap but still love it

Weird

[Harker]

4. I love it now, but initially thought it unpleasantly metallic rather than soapy.

If I didn't now eat anything I disliked initially, I'd be bored.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. It tastes like soap to me, and unlike the posters before me,

I do not like the taste of soap.

And nothing enrages me more than someone who says, oh, there's only a little cilantro in the dish. Maybe you're fine with only a little soap in your food, but I'm not.

I'm curious, have any of you ever tried sprinkling real soap in your food? Does that taste like cilantro to you?

[electric_blue68]

12. Omg you reminded me of a poster's response to a -previous- cilantro thread...they said it was like having

Irish Spring shavings in their dish! 😄

Now, I'm laughing at the description; not the actual unhappy experience.

[Phentex]

20. What gets me is the things they put cilantro on!

Many places use it like parsley and then the dish is ruined. I don't eat out much but when I do I have to specify PLEASE no cilantro because it might arrive on the vegetables or the main dish even though it's not listed on the menu.

[Hotler]

6. You're not susposed to make a salad out of it, it's a spice.

You guys may like this, Salsa Verde. Don't buy salsa ever again, make your own, this freezes well. Enjoy.
https://mexicanfoodjournal.com/salsa-verde/

[Kali]

17. I know some artists in Mexico

one said they were so poor when he was a child he was happy to have some cilantro to fold into a corn tortilla for a taco.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. I'm One Of The "Others"

It does not taste like soap to me.
I'm glad for that, because I'm not sure I'd like it if it did.
Somewhere around 10% of people get the soap taste. So, I luckily stayed in the big majority.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

15. It is one of those genetic things.

Like being able to curl your tongue. I can't.

Or having attached or unattached earlobes. I have one of each. So does my mother and both my sisters. My brothers all have matching earlobes, I think unattached but I can't remember for sure.

Once I was in a college biology class, and the teacher was going through those various things, and when he got to the earlobes I raised my hand and told him I had one of each. He refused to look at them, while the students around me all said, "Yes, she does!"

[ProfessorGAC]

18. Makes Sense

I'm one of those that can't roll my tongue, as well. Neither of my parents could.
I don't have any blood siblings (adopted sister) so I have no further frame of reference, but sure seems genetic.
I don't know if my parents tasted "soap" because cilantro wasn't much of a thing when my mom & dad were still alive.

[Ladyhawke1]

8. God love ya............I love cilantro soap!

[Ysabel]

9. It gives me cold sores...

but it's worth it - haha!

[mitch96]

10. I don't know if it's soapy or metallic but fresh cilantro is not my fav.Now dried? taste fine and I like it. weird, huh

[Kali]

16. dry cilantro has almost NO flavor

its seeds do though - coriander

[mitch96]

19. I would try another brand. Also if you toast it a bit (I toast all my dry spice) it comes to life better, more flavor.nt

[Different Drummer]

11. I've never had cilantro but according to 23andme...

I have the gene that makes it taste like soap.

[electric_blue68]

14. Uh, oh. Should u want to experiment just pinch off a tiny piece in the supermrket

wrap in a tissue, wash at home, take a nibble.

Course, I could understand if you don't! 👍

[electric_blue68]

13. I love cilantro. Was fascinated to learn IF I remember correctly the soapy taste happens when a child inherites a...

recessive gene from each parent that will induce the soapy taste. 😬

I get a faint soapy taste, with mostly it's green, and sort of tanginess coming through instead.

[Phentex]

21. Dunno. My two kids are split

my husband loves cilantro as does one of the kids. The other gets the soapy taste like me. I have no idea if my parents ever ate cilantro!