Cilantro or not?

Cynthia gave me an idea for this thread: Do you like cilantro?

Cilantro is one of those strong-tasting herbs that you either love or hate. Many people think it tastes like soap; others think it brightens the taste of whatever it's in.

I'm in between. A decade or so ago ago, I hated the stuff. I eventually got to the point of tolerating it if there wasn't too much of it. Today, it's still not my favorite, but I like it now--in moderation.

BTW, a few months ago, I reviewed Cilantro Secrets, a cookbook by Gwyneth Doland, which has some nice recipes.

Count me in as a fan. I love the stuff. Pico de gallo and borracho beans just wouldn't be the same without cilantro.

When I grill fajitas, I also grill a bunch of onions. Add strips of meat, grilled onions, chopped cilantro and a bit of pico de gallo to a flour tortilla. Wonderful. I don't use cheese, guacamole or sour cream...all that stuff just hides the flavor of the meat.

Richard

I love the stuff. Salsa isn't the same without it. I like to put it out as a condiment when we make tacos. It is good tossed into a green salad, too.

Here is a good taco that one of my Mexican friends showed me one day in a restaurant where we worked. We were both hung-over like mad and they were great picker-uppers.

3 medium tomatillos
5-8 serranos (if you can take it)
3 cloves garlic
1 bunch of cilantro
salt to taste

1 boiled egg per taco
Corn tortillas

Put the tomatillos, serranos, and garlic in boiling water and boil until the tomatillos are just soft but not exploding. Remove these ingredients to a blender and put the cilantro in (just tear the top off of the whole bunch and leave the lower stems out) with the salt. Blend.

Smear one hard-boiled egg in a corn tortilla and top with the still warm salsa. Enjoy.

You can really do all of the ingredients to taste.

rwj

cilantro is in my refer 90 % of the time. I use it in salsas, green salads, rice dishes, tacos and other Mexican dishes, sandwiches, scrambled eggs. I especially love it when the Farmer's Market Asian families bring it, roots and all. I put it into a glass of water, cover with a plastic bag and park it in the refer. It lasts for weeks.

I'm on the dislike side. I will put up with a tiny bit of it, occasionally, just to be polite, when I am a guest. I never cook with it. If I am using a recipe that calls for it, I substitute parsley. I made the mistake one year of growing it in my herb garden, thinking that I might like it if it were freshly picked. I didn't like it any better, it went to seed, and now it still comes back year after year. Those cursed seeds must be viable forever!

[Robin Garr]

A decade or so ago ago, I hated the stuff. I eventually got to the point of tolerating it if there wasn't too much of it. Today, it's still not my favorite, but I like it now--in moderation.

That was my progress almost exactly, Larry! On first exposure, I didn't like it at all. Then as it became more and more popular, I realized that it was consistently used in so many cuisines that I really love - Southeast Asian and Mexican in particular. To address the problem, I made myself develop a taste for it by eating it, and sure enough, before long I started liking it. Go figure. It's still not my favorite herb, but in its appropriate setting (it's great with coconut milk Thai sauces), I'm very happy with it.

To me, by the way, that smell is <i>exactly</i> akin to sniffing the old Crayola box in grade school. Is that just me, or does anyone else get that?

[Jenise]

I love ciilantro. I've heard the soap thing time after time, and can't imagine it. Interesting how we don't all have like taste receptors, isn't it?

You already know where I fall on this one, but I'll say it again just for the record.

I am member of I Hate Cilantro.

Check out the Haiku section. There are some people there who hate it more than I do!

There are certain restaurants here in Santa Fe where I never eat the salsa because you just know the soapweed is lurking, waiting for a chance to attack.

It was in '92 and I was in Galesburg, IL visiting a General Mill's cereal plant. It was not a dark and stormy night, rather a bright, sunshiny day and I sauntered into a Dave's Mexican food joint for the first time. I ordered a couple of burritos and almost gagged. I thought they were spoilt and fully expected to come down with some kind of gastro-intestinal bubonic plague.

Well, that didn't happen and it wasn't until I ventured into California and Cal-Mex cuisine that I realized that this awfully repugnant flavor was that of cilantro.

In the interim, I have overcome my dislike and now throroughly enjoy it when used judiciously. Oddly enough, as with garlic and onions, too much of it still gives me a sort of a hangover ... not a headache ... but a queer and queasy feeling and a sense that my body is emitting odors through its pores which better should not be shared.

You already know where I fall on this one, but I'll say it again just for the record.

I am member of I Hate Cilantro.

Check out the Haiku section. There are some people there who hate it more than I do!

There are certain restaurants here in Santa Fe where I never eat the salsa because you just know the soapweed is lurking, waiting for a chance to attack.

Thanks for the link, Cynthia! I'm glad there are more of us out there. Cinlatro actually makes me feel a bit ill to my stomach if the cook has been a bit heavy handed with it.

Karen, I haven't tried to put cilantro in my reefer yet, but hey, I'm open-minded.

Otherwise, I couldn't imagine life without it. Indian, Thai, Chinese, Middle East, Mexican, it's all good.

Definitely pro-cilantro. First time I encountered it was at "Mongolian Barbecue" restaurants when I was in college. (Anyone still patronize these?) For those who've never had the pleasure of eating in one, you go through a buffet line with a bowl and put in whatever mix of veggies and thinly sliced frozen meat that you want. You add a sauce of your choice and then hand it off to a guy who has a huge, flat, and very hot griddle in front of him. He more-or-less stir-fries your bowl of stuff, scrapes it off into your bowl, and hands it back to you.

One of the items on the buffet line was cilantro. And it invariably had a little hand-lettered note on it stating, "Cilantro! Use a VERY SMALL amount if you have never tried it!"

I liked it from day one.

Mke

Karen, I haven't tried to put cilantro in my reefer yet, but hey, I'm open-minded.

We did and called it cori-meandering.

Cilantro and mango work beautifully together. Here's a simple salsa combo:

2 ripe mangoes, peeled, diced
1/2 red onion, finely minced
2 T cilantro, finely chopped
2 T fresh lime juice
2 T fresh orange juice
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

The onion can be replaced with 1 avocado diced.

Let the combo rest in the fridge for half an hour or over night. We usually have a bowlful in the fridge -- it will last about a week depending on how ripe the mango/avocados are.

Regards, Bob

There's a theory -- still unproven as far as I know -- that people who perceive a "soapy" taste and/or a rank smell get them from an enzyme produced by their bodies. A genetic marker of some sort.

Love it.

You can overdo anything, of course. Wouldn't want it as a main course...or in main course quantities, but as an addition/enhancement, cilantro is wondermous.

[Jenise]

There's a theory -- still unproven as far as I know -- that people who perceive a "soapy" taste and/or a rank smell get them from an enzyme produced by their bodies. A genetic marker of some sort.

I've read that, too. The first person I knew who called cilantro "soapy" also despised chevre cheese, said it smelled of urine, something I've heard others say about chevre. Seems to be another one of those genetic things, but not the same genetic thing as cilantro.

Love the stuff. Do not grow it because it bolts and prefer the commercial to home grown.

Cynthia gave me an idea for this thread: Do you like cilantro?

Love it (except we call it coriander - the spice is also coriander). It's hard to go past it when you are making Asian fusion food - and I love it in green leaf salads too - a little bit gives a gorgeous lift and vibrancy to the salad. I'm with Hoke on this herb. And with Bob Ross on the mango salsa. And with Karen in the use of it in scrambled eggs.

Sue

Check out the Haiku section.

Haiku Section! Where?

[Robin Garr]

despised chevre cheese, said it smelled of urine, something I've heard others say about chevre. Seems to be another one of those genetic things, but not the same genetic thing as cilantro.

I think that may have a simple explanation, Jenise. Ripe cheeses that are past it start reeking of ammonia, and for someone who's sensitive, I could easily see it evoking urine. :p

Same goes for fish that are past it, now that I mention it. Which, going off on a tangent, reminds me of some neighborhood fish shops in NYC, where salt water is nearby but sleazy merchants won't pitch what they haven't sold, where they frequently wash down the fish with a Clorox solution, creating a horrible reek of ammonia and Clorox mixed together.

[Jenise]

Robin, I get that ammonia character you're talking about--reminds me of my one (and last) meal at a Red Lobster. Horrible. And I've had some cheeses that give off that odor. But this is fresh goat cheese I'm talking about, and I don't see that character there at all--do you?

I'm on the dislike side. I will put up with a tiny bit of it, occasionally, just to be polite, when I am a guest. I never cook with it. If I am using a recipe that calls for it, I substitute parsley. I made the mistake one year of growing it in my herb garden, thinking that I might like it if it were freshly picked. I didn't like it any better, it went to seed, and now it still comes back year after year. Those cursed seeds must be viable forever!

Pick the litte white flowers before they go to seed. They make a pretty edible garnish and are nice in salads too.

[Robin Garr]

But this is fresh goat cheese I'm talking about, and I don't see that character there at all--do you?

Oh, no, not at all! I just assumed that the people who complained about it were maybe getting over-the-hill stuff.