<p>Yep I am one of those who found it soapy when I was young but do not get that any longer as an adult. I do find that the store bought cilantro lately tastes flavorless tp me. New variety? Since we are on mexi ingredients, there is also genetic variation in heat tolerance as from hot peppers. My h and fam are less tolerant than I am or my dad was. I often over spce the chili unintentionally.</p>
<p>Hugcheck - I agree about the flavorlessness (not sure if that’s a word.) Sometimes it has NO taste or smell.</p>
<p>Love cilantro! But cucumbers - UGH! Can’t stand the smell or taste. And don’t tell me they have no smell or taste. I can smell it cucumbers in Tupperware long after it’s been washed! GROSS, GROSS, GROSS. Unless they’re pickled of course. Do I need therapy for this?</p>
<p>I only hear this about cilantro (which I’m fine with), but I wonder if there are genetic components to other “hates”. Like many others, I can’t eat any licorice flavored foods–anise, fennel (which appears on every menu these days), Thai basil, tarragon. It’s much stronger than a mere preference. They’re so repugnant to me that I would have to spit them out if I ate any by mistake. There are other foods I dislike, but could choke down if necessary, so it strikes me that some body chemistry is involved when it comes to licorice flavor. Oh, and the green tea commonly served in Chinese restaurants always tastes soapy to me.</p>
<p>FINALLY…I thought it was just me who thought it tasted like soap! Add tarragon to my list of herbs I can’t tolerate. I can detect the tiniest amount of either and can’t eat the dish. Tough when you’re a foodie.</p>
<p>I hate raw celery, my genes must be responsible for that. I wish I was “designed” to hate sweets. Oh, boo, no such luck, opposite, I am designed to get diabetese if my weight goes over certain limit and High BP.</p>
<p>In Cyprus, their Greek salad has cilantro instead of romaine. Also tomatoes, olives, feta. It is used in recipes throughout eastern med…not just for Mexican recipes…</p>
<p>Like MommaJ, I hate fennel, annise, and tarragon, but love cilantro. Add celery seed to the hate list, too. But they don’t taste like soap ;)</p>
<p>I love cilantro. </p>
<p>Other vegetable oddities. Some people’s pee will be pink after eating a lot of beets. Just thought you’d like to know.</p>
<p>Or how about asparagus?</p>
<p>[Myths</a> of Human Genetics: Asparagus Urine Smell](<a href=“http://udel.edu/~mcdonald/mythasparagusurine.html]Myths”>Myths of Human Genetics: Asparagus Urine Smell)</p>
<p>I’m in the absolutely hating licorice/fennel/anise camp. I completely recoil from those flavors.</p>
<p>Nope, I love anise, celery, though I did have a problem with an office mate who ate raw fennel every day, with her lunch. Tarragon and cilantro are my two favorites. But, as a college kid, after a stint as a cocktail waitress (legal age was 18 then,) couldn’t stand the smell of scotch. Open a bottle across the room and I knew. Funny.</p>
<p>If you are in NJ, try the Coriander (cilantro) soup at Ming. The best soup ever.</p>
<p>Love cilantro! Wish I was in NJ eating cilantro soup at Ming right now^</p>
<p>I used to absolutely love black licorice and adore Anisette but I haven’t had it in so many years and don’t seem to have a craving, so I don’t know. But I don’t hate it that’s for sure.</p>
<p>The only flavor I really dislike is brussels sprouts, don’t like the texture either - a complete and total yuck.</p>
<p>Toledo your link has this line: “Hoffenberg (1983) took asparagus urine from a single individual and had 98 schoolchildren find the lowest concentration that they could distinguish from tap water.” Whew! I can see it now. “Class, today we are going to do some Science!” Yipes. How do you think that experiment actually worked permission-wise??? Maybe they sent home a permission slip. “Next Thursday your student will be offered the opportunity to participate in a scientific study involving smelling one individual’s pee for asparagus residue compared to tap water. Please sign here if you do not wish your student to participate in said study.” Lolling just to imagine such a thing!</p>
<p>And Workinprogress2, I am sO glad to have confirmation of this cilantro bunch with no taste thing. I thought at first I had grabbed some parsley instead, but it didn’t really taste like parsley. Then it happened again. Twice. What’s going on? No taste or smell is exactly correct. Maybe a bit like grass. Really not good at all. I am in New England - how about you?</p>
<p>Ming cilantro soup here, too please. Sounds yum.</p>
<p>Licorice is an estrogenic compound herbally, I think. Or something like that. The wikipedia article on it has lots of medicinal references. Including that it can be toxic to the liver! My sis also hates it frightfully. Truly repellant to her.</p>
<p>I put generous amounts of freshly cut cilantros whenever I eat at home. DW even grows it in her kitchen garden. Absolutely adore the fragrance when it’s cut and “bleeds”; I don’t ever cook it, though.</p>
<p>I can only deal with cilantro in small doses. My kids think I am crazy, but if Julia Child was also a cilantro hater, I am in good company.</p>
<p>“New cilantro findings” </p>
<p>Nothing new about hating cilantro. I’ve hated it since the very first time I tasted it. There is no dish so good that adding a little touch of cilantro won’t completely ruin it.</p>
<p>I believe this is a matter of acclimatizing. I hated cilantro, but I ate more of it and now I love it. Can’t even remember exactly how awful and oily it tasted the first times. I don’t like black licorice. Used to spit it out and there was a restaurant in Detroit whose front door was marred for years by my 6 year old finger marks of wiped off licorice. But now I eat fennel and fennel seeds and love roasting fennel for pasta. I’ll even drink some anise flavored liquor now and then. </p>
<p>People don’t necessarily remember how much they were repelled by the taste of beer or hard liquor. I can remember my first taste of scotch as a child. Love it now. Accentuate the love. Gin used to suck but now I can understand why it took over England back in the 17th & 18thC. Acclimatizing taste.</p>
<p>I read a piece once about a food eaten by a group in Laos. It causes extreme sleepiness but you can build tolerance if you start eating it young. This has the added benefit of helping the kids sleep. The guy tried it and couldn’t get out of a hammock. That’s real acclimatization.</p>