I love cilantro

Some people in the world hate cilantro. Eating it would be akin to having their mouths washed out with soap by some sadistic school teacher. I had heard that it was a genetic thing- that the taste buds of some could not handle the chemicals in cilantro. I never understood that because cilantro has this delicious green fresh taste to it and just felt sorry for those with this genetic predisposition. Well according to this NYTimes article, the love/hate maybe very much related to chemistry but not in the way I had originally thought. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html?hp

One of the chemicals in cilantro is reminiscent of soap/hand lotion or bedbugs, depending on what is more common in your environment. In ancient days, soap/hand lotion was not that common so many non-cilantro eating cultures thought it smelled like bedbugs. Mind you, that is not the only chemical in cilantro and depending on how frequently you eat it (as well as what and with whom you eat it), your brain may focus on one or another aspect of the chemicals in cilantro. In my case, I don't notice the soap aspects, only the yummy, fresh, green, cilantro-y aspects of it.

If you have not had much experience with eating delicious things with cilantro, then the first time you eat it, your brain may likely associate cilantro with the nearest chemical pattern it has stored- soap (or bedbugs)! But if you eat it alot (and under pleasant conditions), then your brain is likely to associate to down play that part and learn to pick up the other parts of the cilantro.

Kind of cool to think that we can rewire our brain on such a basic level as to rethink our sense of taste.