![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
While I'm on the topic of food
Apr. 18th, 2006 11:36 pmI hate coriander (or "cilantro" for those North Americans out there). It tastes like squashed stink bugs to me. While about 10% of people seem to have a genetic aversion to the horrible stuff, the majority of them seem to report it tastes like soap. It's just a relative few who appear think of the squashed bugs, like shield beetles (which I suppose is the correct name for "stink bugs"), or kamemushi (Japanese turtle bug). The name "coriandrum", amusingly, derives from the Greek for bed bug. Very appropriate.
Imagine my glee on finding a site called Ihatecilantro.com - I knew I wasn't alone, but nice to know there are many more of us out there.
I just have to say that my aversion to coriander is more than just a "dislike"; I'm convinced it's a form of allergy. I never used to like Indian curry. I thought for ages that it was the cumin I didn't like (not being that familar with curry's constituents then), but I really liked Mexican food, which has tons of cumin. About 18 years ago, a friend of mine happened to have some fresh coriander and said, "Have a taste." So I did, and nearly hurled the contents of my stomach on the spot - it was an instant reaction as soon as I swallowed the juice.
So, it was nice to figure that one out, and I managed to pretty-well avoid it from then-on. However, when living in England, the default work get-together seems to involve curryhouses, so I started to try and acclimatise myself to it. I can now cope with it in a normal curry, and about a tablespoon of the fresh leaves is bearable, so long as I don't chew them or smell them. Of course, a lot of the Asian cuisine I like features it too, although its ubiquity has become worse now it's trendy. For instance, I remember plenty of Mexican food back in the day that didn't have the bloody stuff everywhere, and now you can't avoid it.
I seem to have less of an issue with coriander seed and root in cooking - it's the raw leaf that still gets to me particularly. Although, if I have something heavy in coriander, even if it's not raw, I can definitely overdose and feel that lovely hot sweaty poisoned sensation, with an interestingly numb tongue. Give me fugu, I say.
It's interesting to see what corollaries there are with other foodstuffs. Quite a number of coriander-haters report that they can't stand cumin either, but I love it. I've encountered a few others who also dislike anise and related flavours (like fennel) - they don't quite make me feel pukey, but they're certainly up there. Caraway is another one I totally dislike, although I love dill. Which is strange, since they're in the same family. It galls me when cookbooks say that dill's taste "resembles" caraway's - to me, they're not at all alike (well, other than the vague family resemblance).
Speaking of plant families, all of the herbs and spices I've just mentioned are members of the Apiaceae family. So, out of the ones mentioned, I hate all of them except for my strong liking for dill and cumin, while carrots are a vegetable I'm deeply indifferent to (brussel sprouts are another matter - peh! - but they're not in this family). I dislike celery, raw, although it's essential for use in stock. English parsley is ok (in scrambled eggs) while I love flat (Italian) parsley. Parsnips, ick.
So they must have some constituent in common, which is somehow missing or mitigated in the cumin and dill. I've been trying to track it down, but I know nowhere near enough biology or chemistry to even decipher abstracts referring to them. Also, being able to taste whatever-it-is must be related to genetics, since I have the brussels sprouts gene as well as the "icky coriander" one (if the latter exists). Possibly related to being a "super taster"? 35% of women are super tasters, but then I've always considered women to have better taste over all. *snerk*
Finally, this is an amusing blog entry on the "delights" of coriander: Cilantro is a scourge on the planet. It is poisonous, nauseating, and the primary cause in over eighty percent of all cases of demonic possession.
Since there are so many of us who have such strong reactions to the stuff, I wish they would provide warnings on the menu, and give us the opportunity to dispense with it if it's not essential to the dish (vain hope with, say, Vietnamese food, but there's plenty of stuff that doesn't have it in - if they'd just refrain for using it as a garnish!)
Imagine my glee on finding a site called Ihatecilantro.com - I knew I wasn't alone, but nice to know there are many more of us out there.
I just have to say that my aversion to coriander is more than just a "dislike"; I'm convinced it's a form of allergy. I never used to like Indian curry. I thought for ages that it was the cumin I didn't like (not being that familar with curry's constituents then), but I really liked Mexican food, which has tons of cumin. About 18 years ago, a friend of mine happened to have some fresh coriander and said, "Have a taste." So I did, and nearly hurled the contents of my stomach on the spot - it was an instant reaction as soon as I swallowed the juice.
So, it was nice to figure that one out, and I managed to pretty-well avoid it from then-on. However, when living in England, the default work get-together seems to involve curryhouses, so I started to try and acclimatise myself to it. I can now cope with it in a normal curry, and about a tablespoon of the fresh leaves is bearable, so long as I don't chew them or smell them. Of course, a lot of the Asian cuisine I like features it too, although its ubiquity has become worse now it's trendy. For instance, I remember plenty of Mexican food back in the day that didn't have the bloody stuff everywhere, and now you can't avoid it.
I seem to have less of an issue with coriander seed and root in cooking - it's the raw leaf that still gets to me particularly. Although, if I have something heavy in coriander, even if it's not raw, I can definitely overdose and feel that lovely hot sweaty poisoned sensation, with an interestingly numb tongue. Give me fugu, I say.
It's interesting to see what corollaries there are with other foodstuffs. Quite a number of coriander-haters report that they can't stand cumin either, but I love it. I've encountered a few others who also dislike anise and related flavours (like fennel) - they don't quite make me feel pukey, but they're certainly up there. Caraway is another one I totally dislike, although I love dill. Which is strange, since they're in the same family. It galls me when cookbooks say that dill's taste "resembles" caraway's - to me, they're not at all alike (well, other than the vague family resemblance).
Speaking of plant families, all of the herbs and spices I've just mentioned are members of the Apiaceae family. So, out of the ones mentioned, I hate all of them except for my strong liking for dill and cumin, while carrots are a vegetable I'm deeply indifferent to (brussel sprouts are another matter - peh! - but they're not in this family). I dislike celery, raw, although it's essential for use in stock. English parsley is ok (in scrambled eggs) while I love flat (Italian) parsley. Parsnips, ick.
So they must have some constituent in common, which is somehow missing or mitigated in the cumin and dill. I've been trying to track it down, but I know nowhere near enough biology or chemistry to even decipher abstracts referring to them. Also, being able to taste whatever-it-is must be related to genetics, since I have the brussels sprouts gene as well as the "icky coriander" one (if the latter exists). Possibly related to being a "super taster"? 35% of women are super tasters, but then I've always considered women to have better taste over all. *snerk*
Finally, this is an amusing blog entry on the "delights" of coriander: Cilantro is a scourge on the planet. It is poisonous, nauseating, and the primary cause in over eighty percent of all cases of demonic possession.
Since there are so many of us who have such strong reactions to the stuff, I wish they would provide warnings on the menu, and give us the opportunity to dispense with it if it's not essential to the dish (vain hope with, say, Vietnamese food, but there's plenty of stuff that doesn't have it in - if they'd just refrain for using it as a garnish!)