I've been wondering for a while now if I might have that gene or whether Cilantro is just a herb i dislike. I can stomach dishes with cilantro in them, but it just stings through everything. No matter how little was put in, it tastes to me like somebody over-cilantro'd the dish. I've never eaten anything where I thought "Mmmh, yes, there's a subtle hint of cilantro" - it's always "Oh, there's the cilantro, and it's just too strong".

But whenever I read about this online, people say that it tastes like soap. It's been a couple of years since I was toddler enough to just put soap in my mouth. But in my mind, the taste of soap is mostly bitter, with an overwhelming tropical/fruity/citrussy flavor of whatever the producers decided to make the soap smell like. I also imagine it having a really unpleasant texture/mouthfeel. I have no urge to try eating soap, just so I can compare it with the taste of a herb. And I assume that most people with the Cilantro-gene also haven't made an actual taste-comparison. So hence my question: In what way does anything - but cilantro in particular - taste like soap?

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[–] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (8 children)

I couldn’t eat something that had come near cilantro until I was in my 20s. But I was intentional about it. I love Mexican food, but really couldn’t eat it at restaurants because of this so I decided I was going to try an experiment.

I would make a small amount of food at home with a little bit of cilantro and as I cut it up I would inhale deeply and tell myself out loud “this smells delicious. I love this.”

Then I would eat the prepared food and do the same. I did this once a week or so for a few months and eventually the soap taste disappeared. It tastes like delightful fresh herbs now.

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  • [+] -10 points 8 months ago (7 children)

    See, yes. This is what adults do.

    Being grown and refusing to eat something that millions of humans eat every day is, frankly, embarrassing. When I meet any otherwise neurotypical picky eater over the age of 13, all I can think of is, “Christ, grow the fuck up.”

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  • [–] 5 points 8 months ago (5 children)

    When I met am otherwise neurological adult who gets hung up on what others choose to do with their free will, all I can think is "grow the fuck up"

    I've got a cousin who gets upset about what I choose to eat. I don't even understand where someone like that is coming from.

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  • [–] -5 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    It's probably less about what you choose to eat and more about the fact that picky eaters are, in a larger sense (and without exception) some combination of childish, incurious, self-absorbed, inflexible, and boring.

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