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Aug 28, 2023

Why Does Cilantro Taste Like Soap to Some People?

How this ubiquitous garnish can ruin dinner. Stacey Ballis is the author of ten novels of culinary fiction including, Off the Menu, Out to Lunch, Recipe for Disaster, Wedding Girl and How to Change a

How this ubiquitous garnish can ruin dinner.

Stacey Ballis is the author of ten novels of culinary fiction including, Off the Menu, Out to Lunch, Recipe for Disaster, Wedding Girl and How to Change a Life as well as a digital cookbook, Big Delicious Life. Her nonfiction essays have appeared in several anthologies, and her food writings and recipes have appeared in Food & Wine Magazine, EatingWell Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, Bake From Scratch Magazine, Plate Magazine, MyRecipes.com, ExtraCrispy.com, TheTakeout.com, AllRecipes.com, and a recipe of hers was adapted for use in The New York Times. She was the recipe developer and culinary consultant for The Self-Care Cookbook by Frank Ardito. Stacey lives in Chicago with her husband and is currently at work on a new full-length work of fiction.

Emily Lachtrupp is a registered dietitian experienced in nutritional counseling, recipe analysis and meal plans. She's worked with clients who struggle with diabetes, weight loss, digestive issues and more. In her spare time, you can find her enjoying all that Vermont has to offer with her family and her dog, Winston.

People often assume that my life as a food writer, recipe developer and recipe tester must be one of constant deliciousness. And while there are times that can feel true, a life focused on food can have its problems. For me, one of those problems is that I am a supertaster. And despite that sounding fun — after all, it has super right in the title — it actually is a serious detriment to my work. The short version is that I have significantly more taste buds than the average person. More taste buds mean that I taste things more intensely and often differently than non-super tasters might. Bitter flavors can be more bitter, minerality can be intensified, and there are many foods that I simply cannot eat.

Supertasters are never identical with what they do and don't enjoy. And I have always wondered if my aversion to cilantro, which has always tasted soapy to me, was related to my supertasting. But my mom, who is definitely not a supertaster, also thinks cilantro tastes like soap, so what gives?

Somewhere between 4 and 14 percent of the U.S. population find cilantro to be soapy on the palate. So while it isn't rare, it is a small percentage of people. Sometimes it can seem as if there are more of us, but frankly, I think it is just because we tend to be very vocal about it. After all, a mere scattering of chopped leaves can turn the entire meal into an inedible experience, and none of us want our beautiful dinner to become the equivalent of a Tide Pod challenge. (PSA Also, never do that.)

Since I am a supertaster and Mom is not, it made me wonder if the supertasting wasn't actually causal, but rather just an annoying coincidence. Turns out, genetics do play a part. We all have smell-receptor gene clusters that sense the presence of certain chemicals. And wouldn't you know, cilantro happens to naturally share a chemical that is also used during soapmaking.

So, for those of us who have a certain gene cluster, we find those chemicals to be very assertive, hence the soapy flavors coming through. While there are a couple of other genes that can contribute to the phenomenon, they tend to bring forward the bitter taste rather than the smell factor. One other smell-receptor could be involved, so just because you don't have the first gene cluster, you could still have an aversion to cilantro. Unsurprisingly, the populations with the smallest numbers of people with the anti-cilantro genes are in areas that tend to use a lot of cilantro in their cooking, like Mexico and India.

The answer can be yes and no. About 25 percent of the population are thought to be supertasters. So obviously, while you can be both a supertaster and averse to cilantro, like me, you can also just have the anti-cilantro thing, like my mom. There is clearly some overlap, but in and of itself, an aversion to cilantro does not necessarily indicate supertasting, and you would need to do further exploration to determine if you are one, or both. And the level varies greatly.

Because there is not just one gene involved, the severity of cilantro aversion seems to vary from person to person. While I think cilantro tastes of soap, if it is used in cooking rather than raw, and in minimal amounts, I can tolerate it. And in my own cooking, especially for Indian or Mexican dishes, I will use a combination of minced cilantro stems and chopped parsley leaves to give a hint of the flavor without that soapy punch. But for many, any amount of cilantro is just too much.

If you think cilantro tastes soapy, there are some things you can do. Some say that you can help to mitigate the impact with regular exposure, so if you want to build up some tolerance, you can start adding some amounts of cilantro to your cooking and ramp it up as you begin to tolerate it better.

You can also do as I do, working with cilantro stems and not leaves, as I find those much less soapy. And parsley is a fine substitution in many dishes if you don't want to get anywhere near cilantro.

Luckily, it is just the fresh plant that tastes of soap, so you can still use coriander seeds, which are the dried seeds of the cilantro plant, without any ill effect. I will sometimes add crushed coriander seeds to dishes where I have eliminated cilantro, just to add a bit of the earthy notes back.

If you think cilantro tastes like soap, at least you now know it is genetic! Some people who think cilantro tastes like soap are supertasters, but not all are.