Flavor chemists have found that cilantro aroma is created by a half-dozen or so substances, and most of these are modified fragments of fat molecules called aldehydes. The same or similar aldehydes are also found in soaps and lotions and the bug family of insects.
— From The Curious Cook: Cilantro Haters, It’s Not Your Fault at the New York Times. Many thanks to Fleur for the link!
I stayed in a b&b type of hotel in the south of France and the bedsheets were *infested* with bedbugs. (My friends and I only got bites on our legs…our annoying chaperones got them everywhere. Sweet justice! lol) I do not remember anything smelling like cilantro.
I am of the pro-cilantro/pro-coriander camp. I love Kiehl’s Coriander shower gel. The scent is paradoxically soothing and stimulating at the same time. I am a big fan of Thai food, so I love the taste/smell of the real thing as well. Julia Childs’ described the taste of cilantro (and arugula) as “dead”, but I think cilantro is one of the liveliest herbs out there. It’s comments like this that make me realize how differently honed all of our senses are and makes me wonder at how much it affects the way we all perceive the world.
Bedbugs! Ack. Have never encountered one, although they’re said to be making a comeback in a number of US cities.
I adore cilantro…the more the better.
I L-O-V-E the smell of fresh cilantro. I love cooking with it, growing it, and handling it. I regularly use it in mixed bouquets too – it just freshens space up with such a wonderful smell.
Interesting, would never have thought to do that!
You can put me firmly in the HATE IT WITH A PASSION column! Can’t stand the smell and can’t stand the taste, I can detect the smallest amount and it tastes like soap just like the article said. My husband loves it and likes to cook Thai food. He has to keep the cilantro apart in a small bowl and add it in his plate only. I still hate the smell of it but at least I don’t have to eat it. I’m not sure I could “retrain” my tastebuds.
Oh, you would hate to see me eat tacos…
I think cilantro is literally a taste that some people can either taste or not taste/tastes terrible. Kind of like smell and synthetic musks (I personally can’t smell Bvlgari Omnia at all). I think its tied in with the whole ‘super taster’ thing. I personally love cilantro : ) , but if it tastes like crap I can see why you’d hate it!
Interesting.
I guess I could possibly see cilantro being considered slightly “soapy”… but I would never have guess a connection to “aldehydes” the way we know them in perfumery. I’m still not a huge perfume aldehyde fan… but I love cilantro!
Ditto!
I just love the fresh, sharp, herbaceous smell of cilantro. Even the forever floral girl would probably like it in a fragrance. I used to make cucumber sandwiches with fresh cilantro (too try to be fancy shmancy). They are easy really: diced cucumbers, chopped fresh cilantro, mayonnaise, S&P, on buttered squares of crust-less bread-courtesy of Fanny Farmer.
Dead? Wow, can’t comprehend it, not fresh anyway. But then again, I’m an animal expert who like most bugs anyway.
It’s an odd statement from JC. I wonder if she liked Mexican food? I know she loved Chinese, don’t know her opinion on other Asian cuisines.
I love the smell of cilantro, but I didn’t use to, so there’s one for the theory that you can get used to it. The Guide says that Noa is supposed to have a bit of cilantro to it, so I’ve always wanted to try that.
Cilantro in fragrance is usually pretty soft, I find…rarely even noticeable.