Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Cilantro is the Work of the Devil

My step-sister sent me this fantastic Harold McGee article on cilantro. Apparently, I am not the only person that can't stand the stuff. Even the smell makes me gag, and I can't even eat parsley just because it looks too much like cilantro.

Here's a bit of the article:

By HAROLD McGEE
Published: April 13, 2010

"FOOD partisanship doesn’t usually reach the same heights of animosity as the political variety, except in the case of the anti-cilantro party. The green parts of the plant that gives us coriander seeds seem to inspire a primal revulsion among an outspoken minority of eaters."

You can read the rest here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html


4 comments:

  1. I just saw your post...and just felt the absolute need to comment on cilantro. You are one of the very few people like MYSELF who do not care for the herb. Whenever I'm in the herb department, I stay very far away.
    However, strangly enough a few years ago...I took a trip to Portugal. Imagine how clearly repulsed I was to find out that most of their restaurant dishes included guess which herb??? I was honestly very concerned. Oh, well at the very least I was going to shed some pounds!
    Well, life is full of surprises. I ended up eating several dishes that apparently had cilantro in it! Somehow, my very sensitive nose and palette didn't pick it up?!?
    Hence...a very big lesson learnt for me. Careful what you do not wish for;o)
    Protuguese cilantro is obviously in a class on its own ;o)))
    Looking forward to reading more of your posts.
    Flavourful wishes, Claudia

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  2. I thought that article was hilarious - though very true!

    My partner's brother is in the "tastes like soap" category, but I've taught my partner to love cilantro, fortunately, because I'm not sure that I could live with him otherwise! (Really, "Thrills" are the only food (well, sort of food) I can think of that honestly taste like soap, and they taste *nothing* like cilantro! :P)

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  3. Foodessa- I would love to visit Portugal! I wonder if they really do grow a different type of cilantro?

    tariqata- Dave doesn't care one way or the other about cilantro, but I always have to make sure that if he has something with cilantro on it, that it doesn't even come close to touching my food.

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  4. I'm not a cilantro fan either, though I don't hate it quite as much as you do! I would never buy it or cook with it, although here and there, it appears in something I eat and I just deal with it. I don't know how I'd describe the taste, other than "bad."!

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