Comments on: The Great Cilantro Debate

By: Ethyl Lyons

Ethyl Lyons — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 13:25:46 +0000

Enough with the debate just because it tastes like soap. It does to me. But that isn’t the real problem. Cilantro lovers think you will “like it if you try it” or “get used to the taste”. I AM ALLERGIC TO IT! If you hide it in my food, or don’t disclose the ingredient, or scrape the sauce back off because you forgot I requested no cilantro, I WILL STILL HAVE AN ALLERGIC REACTION. I start having to clear my throat over and over until I realize that I am having a problem catching my breath and start frantically searching my purse for benadryl. Cilantro is one of the fastest growing food allergies now because it is the “spice du jour” and everyone is hiding it in their food. PLEASE, disclose what is in the food. It could be life or death. It is not just an innocuous ingredient.

By: dancho

dancho — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:39:43 +0000

Wow. Thanks for the post and comments. I too think cilantro tastes like soap, and recently have noticed a correlation between my eating it and an allergic reaction. So I went online thinking I was nuts, and voilà, I find all this.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:55:07 +0000

I love the taste of cilantro but it doesn’t love me. I find it addicting but it burns all the way through my digestive system. I think maybe only when it is fresh. Cooked or processed might be okay.

By: LD

LD — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:27:03 +0000

Cilantro is POISON!! Nastiest stuff imaginable. I always ask to have it left out of my pho and Mexican food, but they sometimes sneak a “little” in. So many of us hate it (I am of Nordic heritage – maybe that Swedish gardener has a clue there) that I wonder why servers roll their eyes when I ask to leave it out. It should always be “on the side”.

By: LK

LK — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 01:51:47 +0000

To me cilantro tastes like soapy dust or dusty soap, or maybe a mixture of dust and that Bitter Yuck stuff you put on things so your dog won’t chew. It also smells like old dust and I can’t stand the smell of it.

I don’t like salsa so that’s no a problem. The only time I have food with cilantro in it is when I go to my favorite Vietnamese place, they put it in the sweet and sour papaya beef salad I like. I can just pick the cilantro pieces out and not eat them though, since it’s a cold salad the flavor hasn’t cooked into the rest of the dish.

By: John McNaughton

John McNaughton — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 03:04:01 +0000

I don’t dislike the flavor of cilantro but I avoid it because it gives me the most horrible case of indigestion imaginable. I have spent a number of nights awake because of
cilantro being concealed in Thai or Mexican food.
Living in CA means I have to be vigilant about what I eat as it seems to appear in everything served in local restaurants

By: Five Ways to Eat Lemons | Food & Think

Five Ways to Eat Lemons | Food & Think — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:00:37 +0000

[...] especially on a hot summer day. But why not at least jazz it up with basil, mint or—though I can’t advocate it—cilantro? It certainly wouldn’t be out of the question to add some vodka to any one of [...]

By: Rosemary

Rosemary — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:33:15 +0000

I cannot believe there is a “I hate cilantro” website and facebook page. I can’t get enough cilantro. I smell it in the veg store while I wait on line to pay! It has an incredibly fresh smell and taste to me. Maybe you are being told you are eating cilantro, and they are slipping something else in! Soap?? Stink bugs?? I don’t get it? Where do you people live? How do you make Salsa without cilantro? I always put it in my salsa and guacomole, and when I make chicken fajitas with peppers, onion, cayenne and CILANTRO. Maybe your tastebuds have been destoyed by too much salt or something!

By: Saffronsister

Saffronsister — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:04:03 +0000

So glad to discover that I am not the only one who can’t stand cilantro. It physically makes me gag. I don’t know about soap, but the flavor is overwhelming and unbearable for some reason.
I will try anything to eat, but I will pick this out of my food before I eat.
Gross!!!

By: Recipe: squeak’s most awesome party salsa! « Hot! Damn! Femme

Recipe: squeak’s most awesome party salsa! « Hot! Damn! Femme — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 17:33:23 +0000

[...] if you like soap flavor. I’m obviously a hater so I leave it [...]

By: Vijeyta

Vijeyta — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:55:59 +0000

I am a cilantro lover but there is a community of people debating about their impassioned views on cilantro at http://bit.ly/eaBend

By: The Wild Mushrooms of Fall | Food & Think

The Wild Mushrooms of Fall | Food & Think — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:31:36 +0000

[...] least the little white button ones you get at the supermarket. They rank up there with cilantro on my short list of ingredients I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark restaurant, or a well-lit [...]

By: John

John — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 08:03:50 +0000

I absolutely hate cilantro. There should be a law that makes it illegal to put cilantro into anyone’s food without their expressed permission. There are a lot of ignorant people who can’t seem to understand that for those with the anti-cilantro gene, having just a little or trying to mask it doesn’t work. If someone was deathly allergic to nuts, would masking or adding just “a little” of it make the person any less dead after consuming it?

By: William

William — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 09:35:31 +0000

I say, down with Cilantro. I don’t like it at all. I can taste it in anything, no matter how little is in the dish. For a long time, I thought it tasted like someone grabbed a handful of grass, dirt and all and mixed it in the food. Now, I think the stink bug is a better description. I never taste soap, but it’s definitely gross.

Oh, and mango’s really do taste like dirty socks. I thought that was just me too!

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:06:48 +0000

Cilantro is the most vile tasting herb ever. I cannot stand it, it is the most unpleasant taste that just gets into your sinus cavaties and camps out there.

One taste of it, and my meal is ruined.