Do you hate cilantro? You’re not alone. Potentially as high as 15 percent of the worlds population have a strong distaste for the leafy green herb.

Cilantro is the bane of my existence. As a culinary adventure seeker; cilantro oftentimes puts a damper on my escapades. It turns me into a complainer at restaurants, and makes me paranoid about ordering certain foods.

Lunch at Chipotle — don’t order the rice. Pigging out at the Vietnamese food truck — skip the banh mi.

But despite is often popularized disposition — cilantro has been enjoying a meteoric rise to culinary fame.

Thus, I am going to embrace my hatred and shine a light onto this little green flake of disaster. In this piece, we’re going to examine the history of cilantro, learn a little bit more about its odd taste, and try to figure out why it’s becoming so damn popular.

It’s not the journalism you want — but the journalism you get from me.

A Brief Background On Cilantro

Cilantro is actually the Spanish word for coriander, so depending on where you live — you may have heard of one herb but not the other. They are one in the same.

While it’s origins are unknown — coriander grows wild over a wide area of Western Asia and southern Europe. The seeds have even been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, as coriander seeds were thought by the ancient herbalists to be an aphrodisiac.

It’s subsequently spread to many parts of the globe, as coriander was brought to the British colonies in North America in 1670, and was one of the first spices cultivated by early settlers.

The fresh coriander leaves are a staple of Mexican cooking, particularly in salsas and guacamole. It can also be found as an ingredient in many South Asian dishes (i.e. as chutneys and salads), in Chinese and Thai dishes, and even in some Russian salads. In Portugal, coriander is used in the bread soup Açorda. In India, finely chopped coriander is a garnish on many Indian dishes.

Safe to say that cilantro/coriander has matriculated it’s way around the world.

If You Ask Me, Cilantro Tastes Like Soap

My typical cilantro experience (illustrated above)

Cilantro is one of the most polarizing foods in the culinary world. Depending on who you ask — you may hear that it is the epitome of freshness with its bright, herbal flavor. For those of you who share my unfortunate cilantro aversion — you will hear it tastes like soap, metal or dirt. An instant dish assassin.

A Scientific Explanation

Nestled within a cluster of olfactory-receptor genes is OR6A2, which is responsible for encoding a receptor that is highly sensitive to aldehyde chemicals. If you remember from science class — your olfactory receptors influence our sense of smell (and therefore, taste).

Those who despise cilantro often cite it as having a “soapy” taste. This taste or aroma is largely attributed to half a dozen different substances, most commonly fragments fat molecules called aldehydes. Similar aldehydes are also found in soaps and lotions. Soaps are made by fragmenting fat molecules with alkaline lye or its equivalent, and aldehydes are a byproduct of this process.

In short, the presence of many aldehydes in cilantro combined with a specific variation of olfactory-receptor genes means the lines get crossed for some and voilà — cilantro tastes like soap.

Who Started The Cilantro Trend? Make It Go Away

It seems as if cilantro has been popping up in more unexpected dishes. I’m totally prepared to live with it in the guacamole, or pick it off of my tacos; but more frequently I’ve been getting it mixed into my salads, tossed on my shrimp, even sprinkled onto a tender slice barbecue brisket (no joke).

It’s like the cilantro fairy flies around from restaurant to restaurant, trailing my every move, dusting the most unsuspecting dishes with flakes of leafy green bar soap.

According to Google Trends; since 2004 we’ve experienced year over year increase in search volume for cilantro. Compare that against another popular green garnish; chives, which has barely grown in popularity. And it’s a shame, because I love chives.

Do your part, and help raise awareness about this hellacious herb. Share this article with anyone who also hates cilantro. If you know any chefs, encourage them to slow down with the cilantro and invite them to be more liberal in their use of chives.

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About The Author

P.J. Leimgruber is an avid cilantro aversionist, currently living in Santa Monica, California with his wife Amanda. He works as the head of marketing for district0x, a network of decentralized blockchain-based markets and communities as well as a lecturer at The University of Southern California, teaching ITP 476 — Technologies for Interactive Marketing underneath the Viterbi School of Engineering.

Follow me on Twitter @misterpeej