poll: cilantro

[coraa]

This is partly random curiosity as to how the numbers break down, but it's also useful for those of you I might someday serve food.

(Assume for the sake of the poll that the cilantro is in a dish that you'd otherwise enjoy.)

I think most of you probably know the herb as cilantro, but it also goes under the name 'coriander leaf.'

[Poll #1382529]

(And yes, I do know that this preference/dispreference is genetic, and that some people have taste receptors that make them perceive cilantro as having a soapy/metallic/otherwise gross taste while others don't. I'm just curious about the numbers.)

Comments

[donaithnen.livejournal.com]

It won't _ruin_ a dish for me, but the dish would probably be better without it.

[semyaza.livejournal.com]

I love it.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Tastes like soap to me. I can substitute Italian parsley in a dish that calls for it and do OK, but the real thing? Might as well grate in some Irish Spring.

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

I am somewhere between these two: "I don't care for cilantro, but its presence won't ruin a dish." and "Cilantro has a bad taste to me; I find a dish with cilantro actively offputting even if I'd enjoy the dish without the cilantro." It depends upon the amount, and, I suspect, the freshness of the dish.

[fairmer.livejournal.com]

I like it in theory; it has a strong, sharp taste to me, but I don't object to that taste on its own. But I only like it in very specific dishes, and that's mainly salsas and things with tomatillos. Anywhere else, it seems horribly intrusive, and irritates me because it overwhelms everything else, and the dish becomes A Cilantro Dish.

[fairmer.livejournal.com]

To put it another way: it doesn't play well with (most) others.

[madduckdes.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'm actually one of those "oh, God, clear the whole room, I smell cilantro" people with the genetic argument. There have been times that I've eaten some salsa and found out afterwards that someone snuck some cilantro in. But if I actually get a piece of it in my mouth, it's seriously bad times. Ew. I definitely won't eat any more of what I had been eating for fear that there might be another piece in there.

[artemis-lizzie.livejournal.com]

Cilantro!

I love cilantro.

[2gouda4u.livejournal.com]

Likewise :-)

[clairebaxter.livejournal.com]

I actively like it in some dishes, but I'm not usually seeking to get cilantro in more dishes. I prefer it stick to it's few standards (squash, corn, and black bean soup, and tex mex cooking). I used to hate it, though. I'm not entirely sure why I can now taste it as good, but I seem to have found more yum in a variety of foods than I did as a child.

[sthaddeus.livejournal.com]

Yum yum!

I had friends from Albuquerque who refused to eat Mexican food in LA (especially Baja Fresh) because they couldn't stand all the cilantro.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

I have a dish called 'yamchiladas' which is enchiladas with yams and heavy cilantro. It is delicious in setting off both the spice and the sweet.

[thumbie.livejournal.com]

(1) Whoa, Cilantro is the same as the Coriander stuff in the spice jar? *is not a master chef*

(2) What's the deal with olives, too? Why do people either love 'em or hate 'em? And is there a correlation between the olive-thing and the cilantro-thing? *is too lazy to ask Google at the moment*

[coraa.livejournal.com]

1. Yeah, the spice we call 'coriander' is the seed of the same plant whose leaf is called 'cilantro.' Weird, huh?

2. I dunno if there's a correlation, but some people are what's called 'supertasters' -- they have more taste buds, I think, than most people, which means that certain flavors that are pleasant to most people are overpowering to them. It may be that supertasters dislike both olives and cilantro, because both have a bitter tone that's overpowering if you have extra tastebuds...? Dunno, though.

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

There are a few dishes that I love if they have cilantro in them, and can't stand without cilantro. I can't recall the exact dishes at the moment, but I know they exist because I recall ordering a dish once and going "I can't eat this! It's missing the cilantro!"

[cos]

Possibly my favorite spice.

[istgut.livejournal.com]

I would say I'm between there and ruin. A single drop won't kill me or the dish, but the more is in there the more I dislike it in nonlinear sort of way.