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Does cilantro taste like green soap to you?


Captain_Tass

Does cilantro taste like green soap to you?  

97 members have voted

  1. 1. Taste of cilantro = taste of green soap?

    • Yes
      16
    • No
      63
    • Unsure / Never tried cilantro
      18

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Just something I've been wondering. It tastes like green soap to me, but it doesn't taste like green soap to my parents or to anyone else I've asked IRL. Granted, I haven't asked many people.

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A question how do you know how green soap tastes like?

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Violet of the Stars

I heard somewhere whether or not you like cilantro is a genetic thing...

 

My parents both love cilantro, so I probably do as well. I've never tried it though.

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According to this website, "....[people to whom cilantro tastes soapy] have a variation in a group of olfactory-receptor genes that allows them to strongly perceive the soapy-flavored aldehydes in cilantro leaves." 

 

You're a small percentage of the population, but there's still a lot of you!

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I don't recall if I've ever had cilantro, but based on the number of other foods that taste soapy to me, I'm going to assume that it would.

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Nope!

Got two adenine in rs2741762 (increased odds of it tasting like soap) and it still tastes great to me! :) Lucky I suppose - ain't gonna complain about that ;)

 

(As far as research goes, there are two genetic markers that can each either lead to ~10% increased odds of it tasting like soap, ~10% decreased odds, or average odds. So don't let anyone tell you "it's all genetics" - that's only one part of the puzzle! :) )

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Nope 

 

@Tassputin, for a lot of English speakers, it's called coriander, which may be causing confusion

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17 minutes ago, SkyenAutowegCaptain said:

 

@Tassputin, for a lot of English speakers, it's called coriander, which may be causing confusion

 

Oh, thanks for letting me know! We just call it "cilantro" here in Greece, and I assumed that it was like that everywhere, but apparently not. The more you know...

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Coriander doesn't taste soapy to me, although it sorta does taste like your generic green leafy sorta thing.

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everywhere and nowhere
20 hours ago, Kimmie. said:

A question how do you know how green soap tastes like?

My friend once said that to her some particular white chocolate tastes like soap. But she rather said it to "yuck my yum". ;)

I'm not sure how does cilantro taste like because it's not easily available in Poland. We have coriander seeds, we have dill (love it), parsley (like it) and chives (dislike it) in bunches and we have dried cilantro... but no fresh cilantro in bunches. I would have to grow it in a pot and I don't want to buy a whole pot if I just need a bit of cilantro for a dinner.

Generally, all the more "exotic" herbs like cilantro, basil, oregano, thyme, even mint are only available either dried or in pots, no bunches. Although, particularly in case of basil and mint it's possible to go to a restaurant and ask them if they could give you just a few leaves. I don't need more, I live alone and cook for one person... Although, I remember when I made myself sandwich spread from green peas and mint... it was great, but I could have used even more mint... I'm just totally unable to estimate sizes, volumes, lengths, distances etc. with my eyes. I don't know how does "100 grams" look like, I don't know how does "50 meters" look like, I have no idea what is the length of my room or the distance to the rubbish dump...

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Yes, and it drives me nuts!  I also get a hint of what cilantro tastes like to other people, and I like it, but the soapy taste overwhelms it.  My diet has to be strictly gluten free, and I buy some fresh prepared meals that get delivered to my house.  All of the selections are GF, but about half of them that have any kind of sauce have cilantro in the mix.  That puts them off-limits for me when I would otherwise probably love them.  Apparently, we soapy-cilantros are a small enough group that they won't change their recipes for us.

 

There are other things that people taste differently depending on what taste/chemical receptors they were gifted by genetics.  Licorice.  I can't drink any teas that have licorice because it tastes/smells like crap to me.  Literally.

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6 minutes ago, Rockblossom said:

That puts them off-limits for me when I would otherwise probably love them.

I really felt that. I had some bao buns yesterday, and they would have been amazing if it weren't for the cilantro.

 

7 minutes ago, Rockblossom said:

There are other things that people taste differently depending on what taste/chemical receptors they were gifted by genetics.  Licorice.  I can't drink any teas that have licorice because it tastes/smells like crap to me.  Literally.

Oh, my mum thinks so about licorice too! I don't really have a problem with it, so it's up to me to drink the licorice teas we sometimes happen to have in the house.

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2 hours ago, Dreamer23 said:

Nope!

Got two adenine in rs2741762 (increased odds of it tasting like soap) and it still tastes great to me! :) Lucky I suppose - ain't gonna complain about that ;)

Maybe you like the taste of soap?

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2 hours ago, Dreamer23 said:

there are two genetic markers that can each either lead to ~10% increased odds of it tasting like soap, ~10% decreased odds, or average odds

According to my genetic markers, I only had a 4 percent increased chance of developing celiac disease in my lifetime.  Since I do have celiac disease, the odds of developing it are now irrelevant, since, for me, they are 100 percent.

 

Whatever your odds of having/not having the aldehyde receptors - in the end you either have them or don't.   Some people may have more than others, but if you have them, you taste soap.  There may be ways to decrease the soapy taste and still eat the cilantro.  If it came to that, I would eat cilantro if I was really hungry and just put up with the soap, but I won't do it repeatedly to decrease the sensation.  That's a bit like hitting myself on the head repeatedly just so I can experience how good it feels to stop.  I'd rather just avoid the whole process.

 

 

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I've always found it very soapy tasting, so I avoid it. However I like broccoli and Brussels sprouts and many people don't. I can't taste bitter very well, so these vegetables taste sweet to me. Someone I once knew cooked with a lot of rosemary but I never tasted it. An Iranian dish featured sumac which was supposed to taste like pickles. I can't taste this either. What really repels me is cheap laundry perfume.  Some might consider it flowery but to me it's the olfactory equivalent of eating a bar of deodorant soap. 

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Custard Cream

I was discussing that with someone today. How strange is that? I love it personally but it's not for everyone.

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12 hours ago, Tassputin said:

Just something I've been wondering. It tastes like green soap to me, but it doesn't taste like green soap to my parents or to anyone else I've asked IRL. Granted, I haven't asked many people.

For me it tastes bitter in a good way, also does green soap taste different from other soaps :P 

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On 10/27/2019 at 12:31 PM, Kimmie. said:

A question how do you know how green soap tastes like?

:D I can't answer for @Tassputin, but when I was young  my mother made lye/green soap at home and used it for cleaning everything - laundry, floors, kids, dogs, china and kitchen sinks.  It got into our mouths by accident, and sometimes design (a kid soap-eating contest that didn't end well) so the taste was familiar.  Even now, when I get a taste of fresh cilantro/coriander leaves, my first thought is that someone washed it and didn't clean off all of the soap.  I still have an impulse to scrub it under running water even though I know the taste can't be washed off.

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Oops, I'd forgotten to answer! @Kimmie., for me it's a mix of assumption and faint memories of one time when I was a kid and decided to bite down on a green soap bar for whatever reason.

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It tastes similar to the other thing we're all supposed to  like now: kale.   

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5 hours ago, Sally said:

It tastes similar to the other thing we're all supposed to  like now: kale.   

I never made that comparison until now.  I dislike kale and cilantro as well as collard greens.

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I wouldn't say it tastes like soap, but it is one of those ingredients that if you don't use it sparingly, it overwhelms all of the other ingredients (at least it does for me).

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i love cilantro, but i think if i had to put the exact taste into words "green soap" would be a pretty good description

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The bigger question is why would you taste soap in the first place? It doesn't taste very good, and I'm not interested into finding out the taste of whatever green soap would be.

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17 minutes ago, R_1 said:

The bigger question is why would you taste soap in the first place? It doesn't taste very good, and I'm not interested into finding out the taste of whatever green soap would be.

I get the "how do you know what soap tastes like" question a lot, and I find it odd that people can't just deduce that from intuition and other senses. We know what soap smells like, and smell and taste are related. When I eat the things that taste soapy to me, the association just comes naturally. 

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50 minutes ago, Snao van der Cone said:

I get the "how do you know what soap tastes like" question a lot, and I find it odd that people can't just deduce that from intuition and other senses. We know what soap smells like, and smell and taste are related. When I eat the things that taste soapy to me, the association just comes naturally. 

Nits I will pick:  1)  different soaps have different smells, and 2) the smells and tastes of some things can be quite dissimilar, viz. camembert cheese.  

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