That explains why some people think it tastes soapy.

A former colleague with the "soapy taste" gene had to spend several months each year in El Salvador. He loved the people, loved the terrain, but struggled with the food because of their liberal use of cilantro.

convincing friends to eat Vietnamese food for that reason.

I love cilantro now, but it did take some getting used to (at first it tasted weird). I've read that some people also are genetically predisposed to perceive bitterness in some foods, which is why some people hate broccoli so much. I love broccoli, and so do 3 of my kids, but my 4th child gags when she eats it and can't even stand the smell as it's being cooked. She'll eat other vegetables, it's just broccoli for her. And 3 of my kids hate tomatoes, which is like blasphemy to me, LOL.

When he was growing up I made a green pepper free version of everything I made with green pepper because he literally gagged at the sight,smell and taste of it.He loves cilantro though which I hate,so much for genetics.

but cooked green peas...gag. I don't buy them at all...the perks of an adult...but my mom forgets I hate them and will occasionally make them for family dinners. blech. My mom always told me I would grow out of it, like I did with peppers, but it never happened. Olives are another one...I try them regularly to see if I've changed my mind. Nope, LOL. My youngest daughter LOVES olives though. I do buy them for her. She's the only one in the family that will touch them, except for my mom. Food tastes are so individual.

my granddaughter loves her broccoli.

It's actually my 2nd child, but the only one out of 4 that hates broccoli. As soon as I put it on the table, 3 of my kids were all, "mmm, yay broccoli!!" because I hardly make it out of respect for my 2nd child. My 2nd child just said, "I'm going to make my own dinner" and made herself something else, LOL. Said child loves Brussels sprouts though, go figure.

People often mistake us for twins, even though we have a 10 year age difference. I'll have to send this along to her.

I have no idea why people find the smell of rotting fish to be pleasant, but obviously some do.

I must say I went to a Mexican restaurant the other day because someone said their salsa was the best they ever had. I would say it was at least 25% cilantro. A bit much for my taste but I still ate it. Not something I would go back for seconds though.

Now nori is something of which I can't get past the odor. Even a tiny bit makes a dish unpalatable to me. Because it is used so commonly, I basically write off Japanese food except for Tempura. I can believe my distaste is genetic because I have always disliked the smell of seaweed whenever I have encountered it.

I've tried sushi and I just can't eat it. The smell of seaweed sets off my asthma, big time. My brother has an anaphylactic allergy to fish and I've always wondered if it's related, somehow. I've never cared for fish much (perhaps because we rarely ate it when I was a kid because of my brother) but haven't ever had an allergic reaction. But that fishy smell from seaweed - gag.

So glad I do not have that taste killing gene!

my grandfather loved raw tomatoes, grew them in his backyard. but he couldn't stand any tomato products other than raw. no tomato sauce, nothing. just raw tomatoes.

i'm pretty much the opposite, i enjoy a good marinara but never liked raw tomatoes. only very recently, as we've made our diet much more heavily veggie-oriented, i'm now ok with raw tomatoes as one of many veggies in a sandwich. but i certainly can't stand just picking up an eating a tomato like an apple the way my grandfather used to.

temperature certainly affects the smell.

i can't stand v8 but then there are so many things not to like about v8 lol!

obviously some people like it but, ... ewwww.

as an adult I love fresh home grown tomatoes,I still don't like grocery store raw tomatoes though.

if I can eat it again after reading this

I've hated it since forever, and thought it was just a personal "failing" until I read the New York Times piece back in 2010. Now I feel vindicated. I can't help it.

So if you come to my house for dinner, and I am making a recipe that calls for cilantro among the ingredients, please know in advance that I will be substituting flat-leaf parsley for the cilantro. Cilantro not only smells but tastes like old, sweaty gym shoes to me.

It's the only green thing I do not like. I've had guests who turned their nose up at things I served such as fennel or tarragon (how could you not like tarragon?). I love those. But cilantro: pfeh!!

It is apparently the same few spices that people either love or hate. This thread reminded me I really have a distaste for anise. http://forums.organicgardening.com/topic/51820721209357928

Probably one of the reason I eat Vietnamese and Mexican at least once a week.

... mmmm, coriander chutney...

I don't have an aversion to cilantro, tomatoes, or celery, but I've
always had a strong aversion to certain veggies that other people
in my family love, mainly raw onions and cooked brussels sprouts
and beets.

I did like onions cooked all right, but lately I discovered that onions
give me violent and painful IBS, so I've stopped eating them... which
is fine.

food inedible.

My husband detests cilantro. I love it. He loves LIVER and just the smell of that makes me want to puke. Different strokes for different folks?

Hate the texture of liver as well as the smell.

I could eat just about any of them ... I could not name any spice or herb that offends me ....

About the only thing I dislike is liver ... but heck, maybe some cilantro could help make liver palatable ...

Fewer thing enrage me more quickly than someone saying, "Oh, it's okay. There's only a little cilantro in this."

Okay. I'll only sprinkle a few, not a lot, of soap chips in your food and then ask you why you don't like it.

I find I'm best off avoiding most Mexican restaurants anymore. Thirty years ago they used very little cilantro, at least the ones in this country. About twenty years ago they started using it, and now it's in almost everything. I've learned to ask if there's cilantro in a dish I want to order and ask for it to be left out or order something else.

Salsa in Mexican restaurants is practically inedible to me now,I make my own minus cilantro.

but I avoid it if I can help it at all. It amazes me how some places have it in nearly every dish! WTF?

for whom cilantro tastes quite different, I still go back to the question of, just how much soap would they be willing to have in their food?

Hate that there's so much of it in Mexican food, which I otherwise love.

Interesting info.

But, it still tastes like soap to me. I actually prefer that salsa have a little bit of cilantro in it, but not an overpowering amount.

obnoxious to me I couldn't stand it anymore and gave it to a (grateful) friend!

I smell things stronger and before others do. And cilantro tastes like soap to me. However, I do love other strong flavors like licorice, cabbage, strong coffee.

Good to know. I now like cilantro, and I even chopped some last night for my guacamole, but it's an acquired taste. It took me a while to like it, although it didn't taste like soap to me.

My brother doesn't like the taste of cilantro, either but I don't think it's quite as repugnant to him. We both have a very acute sense of smell that freaks out other people. We're "Irish twins" but not actual twins.