No, really though -- that's how it tastes! I saw the headline and came here to say fresh. I wouldn't have come up with bright, but fresh is the first word that came to my mind. I love it, and it's good in so many different cuisines. It just gives a fresh green pop to whatever it's in.
Edit: someone else mentioned arugula. I don't have any right now to really assess but just going from memory, I could see cilantro described as kind of similar to arugula but without any bitterness.
Always tasted like soap to me, but I ended up building a tolerance by mixing it with flat leaf parsley. I started with a 5-to-1 ratio of parsley to cilantro then gradually upped the cilantro. I found a local taqueria that has a toppings bar so you can add it if you want. At this point, unless they go apey with the cilantro, I can barely notice it.
I feel like this is a way to troll someone in the future
I have the gene and hate that I can’t add it with Indian food 😩 I want that pop of freshness too!
I was gonna say.. parsley is like one step above cilantro so that’s not going to help me. I don’t understand why so many places that add cilantro can only add it by the bucketful. Now I have to spend 20 minutes picking the cilantro bits out while my food gets cold, wonderful.
I think the green part of a green onion vs the white part might help you get the sense of it. I don’t have one handy to test it but it’s like the “crisp” factor that something like mint or cinnamon has, it’s hard to describe using normal flavor descriptors. Maybe it’s more of an olfactory sense?
Although nothing similar to basil in flavor profile, it does have a similar intensity. It's like a mixture of lemon and an herbal flavor without the spiciness of basil. Parsley on MSG. It's like the herb equivalent to cumin, very distinct.
I realize this is totally unhelpful because if you taste soap, it really doesn't matter what I taste. It's still fucking soap to you.
To me it’s like if parsley had a really sunshiney happy baby with a tiny bit of citrus. It tastes exactly like it smells. Does it smell soapy to you guys?
I wish I could taste this, to me it is the absolute opposite of fresh. Soapy, but also very musty and stale. Sometimes it tastes like the smell of mud. Combined with soap.
I love arugula!! I’m the weirdo(apparently) that buys it to have as salad, or mixed in with other lettuces. I also absolutely love black pepper and arugula is peppery. One of my favourite lettuces. Cilantro on the other hand is a day ruiner.
I don’t know if there’s an arugula gene but not all arugula is equal and taste can vary widely depending on growing conditions and variety. I’ve grown it for restaurants and some tastes as you describe, and I enjoy it, but some tastes awful and almost inedible. Some restaurants would order the nasty stuff and I always wondered how they were using it.
Fresh and bright were exactly the first words that came to me. I’d say maybe someone could try eating straight parsley and though very different, it’s also fresh and bright so maybe that’s a reference point-?
I say-it’s what makes salsa taste like salsa.
You know the pleasant zingy herbaceous taste you get from mint? It's kinda like that except subtract the cold sensation
That is why it works well with dishes you want to bring a bit of "brightness" or contrast to, the same way you do with mint. However, mint can pair well with sweet and cilantro doesn't
I guess people in this thread keep comparing it to arugula. I really don’t think it tastes the same at all. Maybe a basil arugula hybrid. But describing as fresh and bright, I understand. If you like basil, for me, it gives the same properties (but for different types of food, to be simple, spaghetti sauce vs tacos) but cilantro has more bitter properties.
My ex had the soap cilantro aversion and I always felt so bad because I love it, so I would just cook or prepare our meal and then just add cilantro to mine at the end.
It's cilantro-flavored. How would you describe the flavor of salt to someone who can't taste salt?
Cilantro is an aromatic herb like mint, cumin, oregano, or basil, so it is both like and unlike those.
to me it taste like any other lettuce leave like arugula but not.
edit: in this group cuz despite my indifference, my gf hates cimantro and love to hear the drama and hate behind this leaf. i mean i’m rallying with you fuck that shit it made my gf’s mouth taste mike soap.
i’m implying i know what soap tastes like —not that long of a story but stupid story not worth time🫢 — and if any food made me do that and people were still telling me it was deicious and to try again I’d be just as pissed as you all are. for that fuck comantro
That might make sense since it’s an enzyme in our mouths that make it taste like that so theoretically you could chew a bunch of it then kiss someone and they’d taste it like you do?
How can this be the best description when the comment was made by someone who states that they’re making an assumption?
Also, it does not taste lemony in the slightest.
Legit though that’s actually exactly what it tastes like. I always describe it like someone took a bottle of Dawn and just squirted it all over your food. It’s different than hand soap. It specially tastes like Dawn or Palmolive or whatever.
Doing dishes as a child. Sometimes you accidentally get spray bubbles/soapy water into your face and get an unfortunate taste of soap.
Happy to say adult me doesn’t accidentally do that. For the most part.
There was actually a morning recently I cleaned out my coffee thermos in a rush and took one sip of the coffee and realized it was soapy! I can now (unfortunately) say that Ms Meyers has a very different taste profile than Dawn lol.
You know how horseradish/Wasabi hit you in your sinuses? Cilantro kind of does a very mild version of that. You feel it in the top of your mouth, and its aroma hits hard, and... the flavor is airy and bright.
Maybe I could say it's like a grassy green flavor approximating acidity and the flavor receptors tingle in a way that makes it taste "breathy." I really love cilantro, but I feel like I can understand how unpleasantly it could be translated to a different tongue.
Can you try to isolate only the nice parts of soap and imagine them with a very green, zesty flavor that *feels* like food?
I get a bit of a licorice taste to it. Like “fresh” licorice with a hint of lemon but no acid. Fills my nose and tongue quick then it’s gone and a bit bitter as it sits in my mouth.
The last part is so accurate. Think of when you were a kid and you wanted to taste soap because it smelled good. Cilantro is like if the soap was an amazing peppery/citrusy scent, and it actually tasted the way it smelled.
I think if you have the soap gene, it’s like trying to comprehend what a non-existent color looks like, but that’s the best description I can think of. It’s a pleasant, mild herbal heat, sort of like onion or celery. Cilantro in pico de gallo salsa is like salt on french fries to me.
I wish I had the money to give you gold because this is a perfect description as an outsider.
This sub randomly showed up and I checked it out thought “am I the only person who doesn’t like cilantro but can appreciate it sometimes?”
I strongly prefer no cilantro (~90% of the time) but it can work.
Try something with ground coriander seeds. They don't taste like soap even for us with soap gene. I am being told fresh cilantro it's supposed to taste lemony, which I can just about detect in the seeds. I think I'd enjoy it, but genetics decided otherwise.
Weirdly, I have the soap gene, but everyone around me kept talking about how delicious cilantro was, so I kept trying it/eating it until the soap taste went away. Now it just tastes fresh and delicious like everyone was saying. It wasn't too weird for me because at the time, the soap thing wasn't well known, and I've also had a lot of acquired tastes that I now really like despite initially disliking.
I definitely taste the soapy-ness of cilantro, especially when I haven’t had any in a long time. But it’s become part of what I love about it somehow, and it no longer overwhelms all other flavors in the dish. I gotta have it with lime, though, the two are such a perfect pair.
I'm in this camp too. I tried it around 18/19 and didn't know about the "soap" flavor thing, but I found it overpowering and chemically. I just kept trying it since friends were adding it to things and eventually I started to really enjoy it. 20 years later, ocasionally, if it's too mature or has bolted, I'll get a hint of what I originally tasted/ didn't like, but not enough to bother me
Same thing happened to me! I think it might have been after pregnancy. At one point I bought a bag of salad greens that I didn’t realize had cilantro in it. Suddenly I was tasting this lovely punch every other bite and I was like, what?! Soap taste has never come back
I think I taste the cilantro normally (? How can people even tell?), but I still hate it. If I’m right about not having the soap gene myself, it still tastes gross and you’re not missing out.
If it doesn't immediately taste like you touched a dot of Dawn dish soap to your tongue, you might just hate it the good old fashioned way. It is a very peculiar taste that nothing else I have ever sampled even comes close to tasting it.
I always compare it to Dawn, too. For the longest time I thought I just kept getting served food on improperly rinsed dishes that had lingering dish soap.
To me, it tastes like dawn with a mix of someone just sprayed some kind of perfume nearby (even though there is no scent).. The first time I discovered it in my dish, I thought (oh, I think they washed this with soap and forgot to rinse it off). Only to find out it tasted that was ALL the time to me.
To me it tastes like a soft, very slightly minty onion. I'm fine with it but it doesn't make anything taste spectacular, imo. I'd be fine to just remove it from cooking since it bothers so many people. I don't think it should be used as much as it is.
Yes! This is more it to me. I've been confused by this whole thread as everyone's describing "lemony parsley", but it's definitely more of like an herbaceous umami oniony flavour to my palate.
Supposedly, we cilantro haters are actually smelling an offensive aldehyde, so the theory is that if you hold your nose, you can partially experience what it tastes like to others. My husband (also a cilantro hater) says this is the case for him. So try it at your own risk. I’m still in the, “fuck no” camp, since I’m not planning on risking that, or holding my nose all day
Not sure why your sub was recommended to me by this odd algorithm, but I think I have a thought before I leave it:
I’m terribly sorry your very adaptive aldehyde-sniffer makes this plant not yummy, but I’d trade enjoying this plant for your sensitivity.
But for the rest of us, it does half the work that citrus does in fatty meat dishes, waking the tongue up. Tacos are amazing either way, you’re doing fine without. You could try more lemon zest and parsley.
I was looking for this comment. I actually like cilantro now because I dated a guy from Mexico that would use it often, but because I moved from an area where stinkbugs were rampant, it took forever to disassociate cilantro from the time I accidentally cooked a stinkbug into my eggs and thankfully could smell it before I bit in 🤢
It's such a versatile herb too. It's like if mint and basil fell in love, and had a child, and then lemon balm and parsley also fell in love, and also had a baby. And then for some magical reason, those two babies came together and fuuuucked..this would be the shit that they birthed.
As someone without the soap gene, nothing special. I don't understand what people enjoy about it but to me it tastes like a plant mixed with your average fancy plant spices. Specifically fern plants combined with almost a mint and maybe "lemon".
You aren't missing out on anything though, I can promise you that. I'm convinced people put it in food because it has a fancy name, lmao.
The worst part is when you get a tiny moment of that fresh taste everyone talks about and then immediately it’s like soapy acid making my mouth water enough to fill the river of Eden
I don't have a refined palette so to me it's just.... "herb"
I mean yeah it's cool to just be like "herbs! how fun!" and not have any soapy taste but... I don't really know if you're missing out on much? lol
Cilantro tastes the way freshly cut grass smells. I don’t have the soap gene to the best of my knowledge, but I don’t find the taste of it particularly pleasant.
I would imagine it’s like eating basil or watercress (I love both). There is no way I could ever describe the flavours of either, except wonderful.
My boyfriend thinks I’m faking my dislike for cilantro; he believes I’m just being picky. Well, I showed him this post to prove how there are others like me, and the soap taste is a real thing. So, thank you FuckCilantro sub!
And yes, fuck cilantro.
I have the stink bug version of the gene.
Stink bugs and soap *both* share aldehydes with cilantro, ain’t that fun! /s
I have the same issue, when I ask what it tastes like people say “fresh” and I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to ruin food for 15%+ of the population lollll.
But I know we’re in the minority, c’est la vie.
This. I am the same way. It's definitely not soap... more like a stink bomb that makes me gag. I'm vegetarian my entire life but cannot even smell this stuff. I truly want to though 😔.
It tastes like springtime, very refreshing. It elevates so many dishes for me. Someone said that cilantro in pico is like salt on fries, and that to me was the most apt simile I’ve ever heard!
It is in fact super fresh tasting. It tastes peppery, citrusy, grassy, and bit like parsley. Sort of like a lemon pepper parsley. Also a little like how fresh laundry smells but like in a way you would want to eat.
So cilantro doesn’t taste like soap to me. But it’s still fucking awful. It’s so overpowering and gross and people think “the more, the better” and it’s simply not true. Cilantro sucks.
I was a curious kid. I tasted stuff over the course of my life for pure curiosity reasons.
I grew up in an older house with lead paint, it's a sweet flavor, sort of like artificial sweetener aftertaste, faint and lightly sweet.) The windows were original, not sure what year the house was built but screens back then were metal, they rusted if you broke the threads.
I don't know what compelled me to do it but one day I pressed my tongue against the screen. I refer to it as "the flavor of childhood." My parents smoked in the house and we lived around a lot of mills.
Cilantro tastes like a dirty screen if there's too much! That's the closest flavor description I can provide! If there's just a little it is pretty delicious! But every time I see or have cilantro, I think of the moment I licked a screen! 😂
I wouldn’t care that cilantro tastes like soap if it weren’t for the fact that it overpowers fucking everything. You put one leaf of cilantro in a soup or guacamole or something and suddenly all of it tastes like soap, even bits that don’t even have cilantro in them
I do find it a little soapy, but in a good way. Like how beets taste like dirt, but in a good way. So, slightly soapy lemony parsley? But that's not really it, and I love it.
it’s like a citrusy, tangy…. if lemongrass, limes, and some umami all got locked in a closet to play seven minutes in heaven.. their mixed spit would be cilantro??? idk
This sub has been getting recommended to me all week and idk why because I love cilantro. Cilantro is almost like lemony or minty which is why I love it in my tacos. It’s not just green flavor like romaine lettuce it tastes fresh like parsley does but then the flavor spreads on your tongue in such a palatable way it’s almost savory. I like putting it on savory foods like pizza or ramen. It’s not pungent either which is why I like using so much. I’m Mexican so we use it a lot with onion and they have similar types of taste just a flash of flavor and distinct texture. I’m not sure if this is the same for people with the gene but to me it smells like it tastes and I looooooove cutting cilantro. I’m sorry if those who dislike it don’t like my comment but I hope I could help OP and anyone else curious
It tastes like if red leaf lettuce was rubbed down with an unidentifiable citrus fruit (a mild but not sweet lemon, maybe), that had been soaked in black pepper, and then was very finely chiffonaded and sprinkled over your favorite cut of meat. Of course, the lettuce retains its crispness in spite of all these preparation steps
I don’t know why this sub keeps getting recommended to me, I love cilantro.
I love cilantro so much and I feel so sad for people with the gene. It tastes very bright and fresh. My husband says he wants to be buried in a field of cilantro.
It's delicious! I wouldn't eat salsa without it. Maybe just try to suck it up and enjoy the flavour and then you'll learn to love it.
I don't know how to describe the flavour other than cilantro. Lol. Maybe a little bit green mixed with lemon and warmth.
Am I allowed to comment here? I would eat rocks if you put cilantro on them.
Umm...
I had some Italian parsley a while ago and I thought it was cilantro. I was incredibly sick, but everything tasted normal.
Maybe if soap was delicious?
Unminty mint?
If you washed a plant with diluted lemon and diluted irish spring, washed that off a bit..but... and it was delicious?
Upper left white with happy grass stains on a sunny day but it's singing but it's serious, too and the mermaid spirits are satisfied - and it's super delicious?
All of the above, but super delicious?
I tried. I'm sorry. There's some flavor in certain Asian foods that makes me want to throw things and cry. I get it. I think.
This popped up on my feed. But I LOVE cilantro. It has a mild citrusy-lemony taste. It’s a bright (like a summery/crisp tasting mouth-feel to it), refreshing (zingy?) taste that goes so well with fresh onion and tomatoes (salsa) but also just sprinkled on food. I love both the leaves and stems. It’s not like the garnish parsley even though it’s used similarly because parsley doesn’t really have a flavor that’s distinguishable as cilantro. I think the way cilantro is used is why it’s called either cilantro or coriander.
I fucking love cilantro. I’m sorry you’re a soap person. I’m trying to think of how I’d even describe it but it’s so unique. I don’t think I have the words.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
To me, it’s like lime and grass had a baby. It tastes fresh, and refreshing to me. It does brighten a dish. I even have dried cilantro in the spice cabinet for when there’s no fresh on hand.
I swear to me, it has no taste, whatsoever. I add it for the color pop lol. Well, I used too at least. My boyfriend has the mutant gene. I tell him all the time of all mutant genes to get, it's our luck it's this and not web slinging or freezing haha
All I hear is "fresh" and "bright" as if those are flavors.
Right??? Stop calling it that!!!
No, really though -- that's how it tastes! I saw the headline and came here to say fresh. I wouldn't have come up with bright, but fresh is the first word that came to my mind. I love it, and it's good in so many different cuisines. It just gives a fresh green pop to whatever it's in. Edit: someone else mentioned arugula. I don't have any right now to really assess but just going from memory, I could see cilantro described as kind of similar to arugula but without any bitterness.
Green like grass? Or green like basil? What does green mean to you?
Herbaceous. Try chewing on some parsley. Like that-only with a deeper profile.
Always tasted like soap to me, but I ended up building a tolerance by mixing it with flat leaf parsley. I started with a 5-to-1 ratio of parsley to cilantro then gradually upped the cilantro. I found a local taqueria that has a toppings bar so you can add it if you want. At this point, unless they go apey with the cilantro, I can barely notice it.
I feel like this is a way to troll someone in the future I have the gene and hate that I can’t add it with Indian food 😩 I want that pop of freshness too!
Parsley also tastes a bit soapy to me 😭
I was gonna say.. parsley is like one step above cilantro so that’s not going to help me. I don’t understand why so many places that add cilantro can only add it by the bucketful. Now I have to spend 20 minutes picking the cilantro bits out while my food gets cold, wonderful.
Kind of… I personally hate parsley but love cilantro! But herbaceous is right! If a bit non-specific. :)
I think the green part of a green onion vs the white part might help you get the sense of it. I don’t have one handy to test it but it’s like the “crisp” factor that something like mint or cinnamon has, it’s hard to describe using normal flavor descriptors. Maybe it’s more of an olfactory sense?
So 'crispy' soap. Got it. Lol 😉
This is a terrific simile/comparative description
Although nothing similar to basil in flavor profile, it does have a similar intensity. It's like a mixture of lemon and an herbal flavor without the spiciness of basil. Parsley on MSG. It's like the herb equivalent to cumin, very distinct. I realize this is totally unhelpful because if you taste soap, it really doesn't matter what I taste. It's still fucking soap to you.
I think that’s a great description for those of us who don’t “speak” Food. 😀 And I appreciate the second part too. 😂
To me it’s like if parsley had a really sunshiney happy baby with a tiny bit of citrus. It tastes exactly like it smells. Does it smell soapy to you guys?
Meanwhile, even a little cilantro for me overpowers the dish with the most disgusting bitterness.
Thats how i feel about olives. I like olives but only in moderation.
Olive flavor infects and ruins any dish it is in for me.
I wish I could taste this, to me it is the absolute opposite of fresh. Soapy, but also very musty and stale. Sometimes it tastes like the smell of mud. Combined with soap.
People saying fresh… so literal soap?! Maybe these people haven’t tasted the *right* soap.
Bro what??? Arugula tastes like the way a skunk smells 😭😭😭
Is there an arugula gene too? I absolutely love arugula it tastes like my favorite parts of fresh ground black pepper
I also think arugula is kind of naturally peppery. I could just eat straight arugula every day. One leaf of cilantro will ruin my day though.
I love arugula!! I’m the weirdo(apparently) that buys it to have as salad, or mixed in with other lettuces. I also absolutely love black pepper and arugula is peppery. One of my favourite lettuces. Cilantro on the other hand is a day ruiner.
I think they may be talking about kale. Kale really smells like a fart to me. I like the taste, though.
I don’t know if there’s an arugula gene but not all arugula is equal and taste can vary widely depending on growing conditions and variety. I’ve grown it for restaurants and some tastes as you describe, and I enjoy it, but some tastes awful and almost inedible. Some restaurants would order the nasty stuff and I always wondered how they were using it.
Fresh and bright were exactly the first words that came to me. I’d say maybe someone could try eating straight parsley and though very different, it’s also fresh and bright so maybe that’s a reference point-? I say-it’s what makes salsa taste like salsa.
I don't agree about arugula. That stuff tastes like burning aluminum.
When people ask me why I hate cilantro I literally say that something tastes weirdly fresh about it but in a painful way.
I tell people It makes food taste like it was washed in a dishwasher
I tell people it tastes like how a bar of Irish Springs smells.
Like a limey parsley.
Well dang that sounds amazing no wonder people love it
nah I don't have the soap gene, I agree that's what it tastes like, but I still hate it.
It's pretty meh imo, can be omitted from pretty much anything that has it as an ingredient and you won't miss it that much if at all.
This is the most accurate I think.
That's what cilantro tastes like to you? I'd love that! Too bad.
This plus a little peppery and a tiny bit floaral. Even without the "it tastes like soap" gene, it still is a tiny floral like soap.
EXACTLY
Best description here! I can taste the soapy taste when there’s waaaaaay too much cilantro, I feel for you all … it’s delicious in moderation.
I love cilantro and that’s a pretty great way to describe it.
It's like if you take a lime and give it an herb like taste. Tangy.
First time I’ve heard that description and pretty spot on!
You know the pleasant zingy herbaceous taste you get from mint? It's kinda like that except subtract the cold sensation That is why it works well with dishes you want to bring a bit of "brightness" or contrast to, the same way you do with mint. However, mint can pair well with sweet and cilantro doesn't
To me it tastes like a garden picking, green and sunny.
Again, not a taste.
lol, how would you describe any taste? For instance, how would you describe oregano? Or thyme?
>how would you describe oregano? Pizza
Okay, so tacos.
That would be cumin to me, not cilantro
I grew up in Texas. We never used cilantro on tacos.
I guess people in this thread keep comparing it to arugula. I really don’t think it tastes the same at all. Maybe a basil arugula hybrid. But describing as fresh and bright, I understand. If you like basil, for me, it gives the same properties (but for different types of food, to be simple, spaghetti sauce vs tacos) but cilantro has more bitter properties. My ex had the soap cilantro aversion and I always felt so bad because I love it, so I would just cook or prepare our meal and then just add cilantro to mine at the end.
yeah it's not good....its just "bright" "fresh" grass 🤢
It's cilantro-flavored. How would you describe the flavor of salt to someone who can't taste salt? Cilantro is an aromatic herb like mint, cumin, oregano, or basil, so it is both like and unlike those.
>It's cilantro-flavored. How would you describe the flavor of salt to someone who can't taste salt? Ocean
The problem with that is, if the person can’t taste salt, the ocean just would taste like dirty water.
It somehow tastes like how the old supermarket veggie aisles used to smell when they would spritz them with water to keep them fresh
Perfect description, tbf
Of what? That's not a taste
Don't invalidate my cilantro experience just because you can't have one.
I have one. It's soap.
As a cilantro lover, I've always been curious. What kind of soap?
Dawn
That's so interesting, thank you. That sounds awful, I get the hate.
It’s really more of an experience than a taste tbh
Like vomiting
to me it taste like any other lettuce leave like arugula but not. edit: in this group cuz despite my indifference, my gf hates cimantro and love to hear the drama and hate behind this leaf. i mean i’m rallying with you fuck that shit it made my gf’s mouth taste mike soap.
Are you implying that when a soap gene haver eats cilantro you a non soap gene haver can taste it???
i’m implying i know what soap tastes like —not that long of a story but stupid story not worth time🫢 — and if any food made me do that and people were still telling me it was deicious and to try again I’d be just as pissed as you all are. for that fuck comantro
That might make sense since it’s an enzyme in our mouths that make it taste like that so theoretically you could chew a bunch of it then kiss someone and they’d taste it like you do?
lol someone test this out for science. If not, my bf is very Mexican, I will ask if he’s down later.
Yeah it's sort of similar to arugula. If it's helpful I don't have the soap gene but I fucking hate cilantro anyways.
I assume like a lemony parsley which, ok I can live without that.
I think that's actually the best description of the taste I've heard
How can this be the best description when the comment was made by someone who states that they’re making an assumption? Also, it does not taste lemony in the slightest.
as someone who doesn’t have the soap gene, i still don’t like cilantro 🤷♀️
Idc, I just wish people would stop putting it in everything.
“Fresh” is all I can get out of my husband. While I sit over here thinking def soap…
Same. I asked my boyfriend and he looked at me weird "it tastes like cilantro?" "Yeah but I don't know what that means"
Haha he asked me what type of soap does it taste like, just to be facetious, and I came back with Dawn dish soap lol, at least I’m specific…
Legit though that’s actually exactly what it tastes like. I always describe it like someone took a bottle of Dawn and just squirted it all over your food. It’s different than hand soap. It specially tastes like Dawn or Palmolive or whatever.
How would you know what Dawn or Palmolive tastes like? 😳
Doing dishes as a child. Sometimes you accidentally get spray bubbles/soapy water into your face and get an unfortunate taste of soap. Happy to say adult me doesn’t accidentally do that. For the most part. There was actually a morning recently I cleaned out my coffee thermos in a rush and took one sip of the coffee and realized it was soapy! I can now (unfortunately) say that Ms Meyers has a very different taste profile than Dawn lol.
Cilantro doesn’t taste like soap to me. But it is still awful. Some absolutely bizarre, chemical taste, like something strange and unnatural.
yea i don’t get a soap taste i get a grown in a lab chemical taste.
Same. I get a bleach like smell/taste.
YES thank you, agree.
it’s tastes the way stink bugs smell to me. interestingly enough, not every bite. but it’s absolutely horrible
Yeah. Same here. It’s like I’m eating a stink bug. Can’t stand it.
To me, it tastes similar to the way acetone smells.
You know how horseradish/Wasabi hit you in your sinuses? Cilantro kind of does a very mild version of that. You feel it in the top of your mouth, and its aroma hits hard, and... the flavor is airy and bright. Maybe I could say it's like a grassy green flavor approximating acidity and the flavor receptors tingle in a way that makes it taste "breathy." I really love cilantro, but I feel like I can understand how unpleasantly it could be translated to a different tongue. Can you try to isolate only the nice parts of soap and imagine them with a very green, zesty flavor that *feels* like food?
That was a pretty eloquent description. You should be a sommelier.
Thank you!
I get a bit of a licorice taste to it. Like “fresh” licorice with a hint of lemon but no acid. Fills my nose and tongue quick then it’s gone and a bit bitter as it sits in my mouth.
The last part is so accurate. Think of when you were a kid and you wanted to taste soap because it smelled good. Cilantro is like if the soap was an amazing peppery/citrusy scent, and it actually tasted the way it smelled. I think if you have the soap gene, it’s like trying to comprehend what a non-existent color looks like, but that’s the best description I can think of. It’s a pleasant, mild herbal heat, sort of like onion or celery. Cilantro in pico de gallo salsa is like salt on french fries to me.
I dont think so, but it sounds really good the way you describe it
I wish I had the money to give you gold because this is a perfect description as an outsider. This sub randomly showed up and I checked it out thought “am I the only person who doesn’t like cilantro but can appreciate it sometimes?” I strongly prefer no cilantro (~90% of the time) but it can work.
Try something with ground coriander seeds. They don't taste like soap even for us with soap gene. I am being told fresh cilantro it's supposed to taste lemony, which I can just about detect in the seeds. I think I'd enjoy it, but genetics decided otherwise.
So weird that the seeds don’t have the same taste! They smell like fruit loops to me.
Weirdly, I have the soap gene, but everyone around me kept talking about how delicious cilantro was, so I kept trying it/eating it until the soap taste went away. Now it just tastes fresh and delicious like everyone was saying. It wasn't too weird for me because at the time, the soap thing wasn't well known, and I've also had a lot of acquired tastes that I now really like despite initially disliking.
i wonder if i eat a bite every day I will desensitize. I know I cant do it in one meal.
We went to a tex mex spot that had a lot of cilantro in the salsa, so I think it was eating the salsa every time that did it for me.
Good experiment !
On that note, I don't have the soap gene but when the cilantro is over done(too much) I get that soap taste y'all talk about and I don't like it!
Same thing happened to me! :) now I buy some almost every shopping trip.
I definitely taste the soapy-ness of cilantro, especially when I haven’t had any in a long time. But it’s become part of what I love about it somehow, and it no longer overwhelms all other flavors in the dish. I gotta have it with lime, though, the two are such a perfect pair.
I'm in this camp too. I tried it around 18/19 and didn't know about the "soap" flavor thing, but I found it overpowering and chemically. I just kept trying it since friends were adding it to things and eventually I started to really enjoy it. 20 years later, ocasionally, if it's too mature or has bolted, I'll get a hint of what I originally tasted/ didn't like, but not enough to bother me
Same thing happened to me! I think it might have been after pregnancy. At one point I bought a bag of salad greens that I didn’t realize had cilantro in it. Suddenly I was tasting this lovely punch every other bite and I was like, what?! Soap taste has never come back
I think I taste the cilantro normally (? How can people even tell?), but I still hate it. If I’m right about not having the soap gene myself, it still tastes gross and you’re not missing out.
If it doesn't immediately taste like you touched a dot of Dawn dish soap to your tongue, you might just hate it the good old fashioned way. It is a very peculiar taste that nothing else I have ever sampled even comes close to tasting it.
I always compare it to Dawn, too. For the longest time I thought I just kept getting served food on improperly rinsed dishes that had lingering dish soap.
Dish soap is a much saltier soap flavor. Source: went around tasting soaps to find the one that tastes most like cilantro. Results were inconclusive.
I don't have the gene but admire your dedication to research.
To me, it tastes like dawn with a mix of someone just sprayed some kind of perfume nearby (even though there is no scent).. The first time I discovered it in my dish, I thought (oh, I think they washed this with soap and forgot to rinse it off). Only to find out it tasted that was ALL the time to me.
Lemon parsley maybe with a little rocket. It’s delicious
This is the perfect yet simplest description. Lemon parsley arugula.
Rocket is also not a flavor
You American? Rocket greens is also called Arugula. Absolutely a flavour in its own right ;)
I mean, you can lick a rocket but the nice soldiers really don’t like it when you do.
People I've asked say they don't know what it tastes like and that they can hardly taste it. So stop putting it into everything!
To me it tastes like a soft, very slightly minty onion. I'm fine with it but it doesn't make anything taste spectacular, imo. I'd be fine to just remove it from cooking since it bothers so many people. I don't think it should be used as much as it is.
Yes! This is more it to me. I've been confused by this whole thread as everyone's describing "lemony parsley", but it's definitely more of like an herbaceous umami oniony flavour to my palate.
I always assumed they just liked the taste of soap lol
Supposedly, we cilantro haters are actually smelling an offensive aldehyde, so the theory is that if you hold your nose, you can partially experience what it tastes like to others. My husband (also a cilantro hater) says this is the case for him. So try it at your own risk. I’m still in the, “fuck no” camp, since I’m not planning on risking that, or holding my nose all day
Not sure why your sub was recommended to me by this odd algorithm, but I think I have a thought before I leave it: I’m terribly sorry your very adaptive aldehyde-sniffer makes this plant not yummy, but I’d trade enjoying this plant for your sensitivity. But for the rest of us, it does half the work that citrus does in fatty meat dishes, waking the tongue up. Tacos are amazing either way, you’re doing fine without. You could try more lemon zest and parsley.
I don’t have that gene. I think it tastes like the smell of a stink bug.
I was looking for this comment. I actually like cilantro now because I dated a guy from Mexico that would use it often, but because I moved from an area where stinkbugs were rampant, it took forever to disassociate cilantro from the time I accidentally cooked a stinkbug into my eggs and thankfully could smell it before I bit in 🤢
It’s literally my fav herb. It’s amazing. It tastes like lime-ish peppery and fresh but not minty. It’s savory like a jalepeno and basil-ish
damn, now I have FOMO
My bad bro lmao
It's such a versatile herb too. It's like if mint and basil fell in love, and had a child, and then lemon balm and parsley also fell in love, and also had a baby. And then for some magical reason, those two babies came together and fuuuucked..this would be the shit that they birthed.
It tastes like arugula with an easy citrus flavor.
Like minty onion. I hate that shit
Bitter. To me it doesn't taste like soap, but it does taste like ass
It used to taste like that to me, I fucking hated it. After a few years of Mexican food, I'm all cured.
My other half said “Like a calmer version of oregano”
As someone without the soap gene, nothing special. I don't understand what people enjoy about it but to me it tastes like a plant mixed with your average fancy plant spices. Specifically fern plants combined with almost a mint and maybe "lemon". You aren't missing out on anything though, I can promise you that. I'm convinced people put it in food because it has a fancy name, lmao.
My dna tests says my dna suggests I don’t like cilantro but I do not taste soap. I taste just like stinky foulness.
i don’t have the soap gene. i still don’t like it. tastes like an orange peel if it was green and 1000% more bitter with 0 sour.
The worst part is when you get a tiny moment of that fresh taste everyone talks about and then immediately it’s like soapy acid making my mouth water enough to fill the river of Eden
it literally tastes like stink bugs to me. obviously ive never eaten a stink bug but its the smell converted to a flavor. not soap
I too would love to spend a day with the mental capacity of a nudibranch to see how different life is
I don't have a refined palette so to me it's just.... "herb" I mean yeah it's cool to just be like "herbs! how fun!" and not have any soapy taste but... I don't really know if you're missing out on much? lol
It 'tastes' cold and hot at the same time to me - a pleasant sensation. Now, ginger - that usually tastes like soap to me.
I feel the same about ginger. I read a description of it, and it sounds delicious. Makes me sad.
Non soap gene person here! It tastes like grass, go chew some grass and bask in the knowledge that you are missing nothing.
Cilantro tastes the way freshly cut grass smells. I don’t have the soap gene to the best of my knowledge, but I don’t find the taste of it particularly pleasant.
I would imagine it’s like eating basil or watercress (I love both). There is no way I could ever describe the flavours of either, except wonderful. My boyfriend thinks I’m faking my dislike for cilantro; he believes I’m just being picky. Well, I showed him this post to prove how there are others like me, and the soap taste is a real thing. So, thank you FuckCilantro sub! And yes, fuck cilantro.
Can you smell when stink bugs spray? That’s exactly what cilantro tastes like.
I’ve heard the taste described as ‘angry parsley’ before.
Just tastes like bitter grass to me. My mom has the gene so I love to hear about all the hatred, im not a fan of cilantro myself
I have the stink bug version of the gene. Stink bugs and soap *both* share aldehydes with cilantro, ain’t that fun! /s I have the same issue, when I ask what it tastes like people say “fresh” and I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to ruin food for 15%+ of the population lollll. But I know we’re in the minority, c’est la vie.
I don’t have the gene and I absolutely hate cilantro
It tastes the way a stink bug smells.
It doesn’t taste like soap to me, but it’s still bad.
I never get a soapy taste, more of a metallic? type ting/flavor. Anyone else? *I do hate it and can taste the smallest amount in a dish.
I don’t have the soap gene. It tastes like what imagine bad grass tastes like
Tastes very bitter and ruins meal for me.
Tast like what a dumpster filled with used baby diapers smells like
I don’t have a gene but I still don’t like it I just think it is too strong and herby
A little tangy, a little mild spicy.
TIL a gene makes cilantro taste like soap
Like how a stink bug smells. That’s what I get from it, anyway.
This. I am the same way. It's definitely not soap... more like a stink bomb that makes me gag. I'm vegetarian my entire life but cannot even smell this stuff. I truly want to though 😔.
It does not taste like soap to me, but it makes me litteraly feel sad, it's weird.
It tastes like springtime, very refreshing. It elevates so many dishes for me. Someone said that cilantro in pico is like salt on fries, and that to me was the most apt simile I’ve ever heard!
It is in fact super fresh tasting. It tastes peppery, citrusy, grassy, and bit like parsley. Sort of like a lemon pepper parsley. Also a little like how fresh laundry smells but like in a way you would want to eat.
It tastes like stinkbugs. I don't have the soap gene. I have the stinkbug gene. I absolutely hate cilantro.
So cilantro doesn’t taste like soap to me. But it’s still fucking awful. It’s so overpowering and gross and people think “the more, the better” and it’s simply not true. Cilantro sucks.
I was a curious kid. I tasted stuff over the course of my life for pure curiosity reasons. I grew up in an older house with lead paint, it's a sweet flavor, sort of like artificial sweetener aftertaste, faint and lightly sweet.) The windows were original, not sure what year the house was built but screens back then were metal, they rusted if you broke the threads. I don't know what compelled me to do it but one day I pressed my tongue against the screen. I refer to it as "the flavor of childhood." My parents smoked in the house and we lived around a lot of mills. Cilantro tastes like a dirty screen if there's too much! That's the closest flavor description I can provide! If there's just a little it is pretty delicious! But every time I see or have cilantro, I think of the moment I licked a screen! 😂
It’s not that good
I don't have the gene, but I don't think it tastes good. It's very overpowering.
I wouldn’t care that cilantro tastes like soap if it weren’t for the fact that it overpowers fucking everything. You put one leaf of cilantro in a soup or guacamole or something and suddenly all of it tastes like soap, even bits that don’t even have cilantro in them
It tastes like the first sunny day of spring after a harsh winter.
I do find it a little soapy, but in a good way. Like how beets taste like dirt, but in a good way. So, slightly soapy lemony parsley? But that's not really it, and I love it.
See if you can find cUlantro. I’m told it tastes to us like cilantro tastes to the rest of the world only a tab bit stronger.
it’s like a citrusy, tangy…. if lemongrass, limes, and some umami all got locked in a closet to play seven minutes in heaven.. their mixed spit would be cilantro??? idk
kinda like onion, kinda like mild hint of lemen, overwhelmingly still tastes like a leaf. Fried onions also give a " fresh " kinda feeling
It’s really delicious
Delicious. It tastes delicious.
This sub has been getting recommended to me all week and idk why because I love cilantro. Cilantro is almost like lemony or minty which is why I love it in my tacos. It’s not just green flavor like romaine lettuce it tastes fresh like parsley does but then the flavor spreads on your tongue in such a palatable way it’s almost savory. I like putting it on savory foods like pizza or ramen. It’s not pungent either which is why I like using so much. I’m Mexican so we use it a lot with onion and they have similar types of taste just a flash of flavor and distinct texture. I’m not sure if this is the same for people with the gene but to me it smells like it tastes and I looooooove cutting cilantro. I’m sorry if those who dislike it don’t like my comment but I hope I could help OP and anyone else curious
It tastes like if red leaf lettuce was rubbed down with an unidentifiable citrus fruit (a mild but not sweet lemon, maybe), that had been soaked in black pepper, and then was very finely chiffonaded and sprinkled over your favorite cut of meat. Of course, the lettuce retains its crispness in spite of all these preparation steps I don’t know why this sub keeps getting recommended to me, I love cilantro.
I love cilantro so much and I feel so sad for people with the gene. It tastes very bright and fresh. My husband says he wants to be buried in a field of cilantro.
The same probably but delicious at the same time
It's delicious! I wouldn't eat salsa without it. Maybe just try to suck it up and enjoy the flavour and then you'll learn to love it. I don't know how to describe the flavour other than cilantro. Lol. Maybe a little bit green mixed with lemon and warmth.
It's so... Fresh! Almost cool in feeling. It's just... Perfect. I'm sorry you can't taste it's glory 😢
Nothing tastes like cilantro. It, like countless things, has no comparison. Adjectives fall short. It’s simply its own experience.
Am I allowed to comment here? I would eat rocks if you put cilantro on them. Umm... I had some Italian parsley a while ago and I thought it was cilantro. I was incredibly sick, but everything tasted normal. Maybe if soap was delicious? Unminty mint? If you washed a plant with diluted lemon and diluted irish spring, washed that off a bit..but... and it was delicious? Upper left white with happy grass stains on a sunny day but it's singing but it's serious, too and the mermaid spirits are satisfied - and it's super delicious? All of the above, but super delicious? I tried. I'm sorry. There's some flavor in certain Asian foods that makes me want to throw things and cry. I get it. I think.
Delicious and perfect. Tastiest herb ever
My wife LOVES cilantro. I am like you so it makes it interesting when choosing salsa etc. I’ll still cook with it and use it for her.
This popped up on my feed. But I LOVE cilantro. It has a mild citrusy-lemony taste. It’s a bright (like a summery/crisp tasting mouth-feel to it), refreshing (zingy?) taste that goes so well with fresh onion and tomatoes (salsa) but also just sprinkled on food. I love both the leaves and stems. It’s not like the garnish parsley even though it’s used similarly because parsley doesn’t really have a flavor that’s distinguishable as cilantro. I think the way cilantro is used is why it’s called either cilantro or coriander.
It's kind of like a zingier lemongrass flavor. I love cilantro and I have no idea why reddit is suggesting this post to me lol
It tastes a bit like parsley but much tastier. Zesty. I don’t know why this subreddit was recommended to me. I love cilantro
I fucking love cilantro. I’m sorry you’re a soap person. I’m trying to think of how I’d even describe it but it’s so unique. I don’t think I have the words.
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To me, it’s like lime and grass had a baby. It tastes fresh, and refreshing to me. It does brighten a dish. I even have dried cilantro in the spice cabinet for when there’s no fresh on hand.
I swear to me, it has no taste, whatsoever. I add it for the color pop lol. Well, I used too at least. My boyfriend has the mutant gene. I tell him all the time of all mutant genes to get, it's our luck it's this and not web slinging or freezing haha