Please make fresh coriander optional, possibly use parsley as an alternative.

[captainoctopus]

I am one of the people who finds food with fresh coriander tastes as though it has got soap grated into it. I am not alone.
"The prevalence of dislike ranged from 3 to 21%. The proportion of subjects classified as disliking cilantro was 21% for East Asians, 17% for Caucasians, 14% for those of African descent, 7% for South Asians, 4% for Hispanics, and 3% for Middle Eastern subjects."
This is a 2012 study amongst 1500 people.
It's a genetic thing, not just a fancy.
Ground coriander seed is OK, for me at least.
Would be lovely if it were optional - on the side maybe?
Anyone feel the same?

I think it's a genetic issue that some people taste soap? It doesn't taste like soap at all to me, it's got a fantastic unique taste that lifts all the flavours of whatever dish it's in. The closest comparison would be lemon juice or garlic. It's like eating a tzatiki without garlic or a hummus without lemon juice. There would be an entire dimension of flavour missing.

Nope. I love coriander and have a mild disdain for parsley, which to me tastes like a chopped handful of weeds from the garden.

Perhaps basil rather than parsley might be a better alternative. Good for the digestion too.

Who are you asking OP? Do you have loads of people cooking for you who add fresh coriander without checking first?

We are a family of 4 - 3 fresh coriander lovers, 1 hater. It's really not a problem to cater for his aversion.

It is usually used as a fresh green herb added right at the end of cooking, after the heat is turned off. Does it give you the same problems if actually cooked within a dish?

I’m so surprised that the highest proportion of haters are from East Asia. Surely it features heavily in foods from that region?

I absolutely love coriander and eat it as a salad on its own. I eat it almost every day, without fail.

Where do you find it cropping up that you don’t want to? In restaurants? Can you ask them to leave it off?

I love coriander, and would be really disappointed to see it substituted for parsley in restaurants. Coriander is fresh, bright and mildly citrusy to me, while parsley tastes like how cut grass smells. Lovely smell, but not what I want to eat.

What I find weird is that I can understand the soap comparison….and yet I still love it.

Parsley though can fuck off. More than once have picked up what I thought was coriander in the shop only to get home and find I’ve picked up flat leaf parsley- proper ruins my day that.

I loathe it, it not only tastes soapy it stinks like cats pee.

I wish it was just a soap taste... however vile that is. Unfortunately coriander makes me gag / throw up!
So it's to the burning stakes if I had my way ... but in the meantime, if eating out I always tell them no fresh coriander, please. Never had a problem.
But when buying ready made food like sandwiches, I have to study the ingredients as it's there, ready to poison me.

I love coriander and it doesn't taste like soap to me.

I can't stand the taste of either of them fresh.

I LOVE coriander. Parsley is totally the wrong substitute and would make, say, a fajita taste weird.

I can see why you'd want to know if it was an ingredient before ordering something and have the option of leaving it out where possible but, keeping with the fajitas as an example, the coriander needs to go in at the beginning, not sprinkled on prettily at the end. It can't be optional without changing the dish entirely.

I like Coriander but Pine Nuts taste very burnt and bitter to me. I didn't know that it wasn't the same for everyone and wondered how the heck people were eating them

This thing about it tasting soapy really confuses me cos i don't think i know what soap tastes like. i mean the greasy, horrible, coat the mouth soapyness yes, but taste? what does soap actually taste like! i do like coriander but find it quite an indescribable taste, weird but nice.

so i wonder if people who think coriander tastes soapy are also people who can taste soap?

I like coriander and flat leaf parsley and don't mind swapping one for the other.

I have a recipe for pork fillet in an orange and coriander sauce, which suggests chopped watercress leaves as an alternative for the coriande. It works really well, but has to be added at the last minute, as otherwise the leaves turn a rather unappetising colour.

I love coriander. Possibly my favourite herb but I can tell that it could taste soapy. I'd like a coriander perfume. Parsley is not the same at all.

I'm not keen on tarragon or dill but I don't hate them.

I can’t imagine a world where that vile green weed was rich, aromatic, lightly spicy and earthy. It’s just like perfumed green soapy weed.

It’s a vile soapy horror.

YANBU x 1000.

I love coriander but my DS says it tastes of soap. But I actually think roasting lamb smells of poo. It makes a house smell like the toilet isn't working properly. Yet many people think it's amazing. Bacon makes me heave too. It's interesting how we perceive things differently.

It’s like someone put washing up liquid in my food. But no big deal: I use parsley instead at home and avoid dishes with it when out. Annoying in recipe boxes though but that’s a niche / luxury problem to have.

Love coriander. Doesn't taste like soap to me, tastes lovely fresh and fragrant, flowery but slightly citrus at the same time. Unusual and light.

Also love oregano. Not too keen on basil though.

I feel similarly about tonic water. It tastes to me like a chemical that shouldn’t be ingested. I can’t believe it’s suitable for human consumption.

It makes a curry. You will have to just eat rice

It’s nothing like soap to me, it’s one of the freshest, most delicious ingredients there is and transforms otherwise mundane dishes into culinary delights.

Bacon to me smells like sweaty piss, same for pork sausages. I can’t go to Greggs in the morning as the bacon smell is so strong. It’s like hot tramp.