The most evil flavour in the world : Coriander

[KrazyHorse]

I know they don't look the same. That's the point. You can imagine my confusion when I moved.

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by Spec
I hate ketchup.

Spec.

You just live in your own little world, don't you?

[Fake Boris]

coriander

[Cort Haus]

Right, having read a bit of the website, it seems that in North America 'coriander' refers to the seeds, and 'cilantro' is the leaf. In the UK, 'coriander' is the leaf and 'coriander seed' is the seed.

The seed is fairly harmless for me - the leaf is not, with a foul taste and a mild allergic response.

[LordShiva]

According to the wikipedia article, that just means you have genetic defects

[Winston]

Sikander

Oh, disgusting, vile plague that assaults the palette

Not only that, it apparently assaults the ability to properly distinguish between palettes and palates during pretentious rants.

[SlowwHand]

Does this mean I get your fajitas, Cort?

[Solly]

Coriander

[SlowwHand]

Where's Cort? I bet he's got so much cilantro in his mouth, his cheeks look like a hamster.

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Does this mean I get your fajitas, Cort?

From what I've heard of Tex-Mex cuisine, yeah, definitely. Although the Wiki entry for fajitas doesn't even mention coriander/cilantro, which is perhaps why this food is a real nuisance for some people. Because this weed is so popular, it gets assumed that everyone loves it, and its gets put onto things by default and not listed as an ingredient.

You don't get served a nut roast at a restaurant without the menu saying its got nuts in it, and it almost seems like you can't carry a nut onto a plane these days. However, cilantro/coriander gets put on almost anything these days, as if it was salt. I cannot order a meal anywhere without having to check that there will be none of this stuff in it. Even tuna sandwiches from the shop are being shipped with the stuff. A pizza place down the road has it in its tomato base.

Whole menus can get wiped out in some restaurants - Mexican, Thai, Indian. I used to live in the Moseley district of Birmingham where the balti was born. My flatmate used to make these curries which were by all accounts delicious but I couldn't eat them because of the coriander. The day he had no fresh leaves, I could eat it and yes, it was delicious.

Hopefully the site in the OP can contribute to research on this. They are taking people's descriptions of the taste, and there are recurring patterns - soapy, metallic, rotten. For me it's like the smell of decaying flesh, but sometimes I have thought of washing-up liquid. Some nut-allergists have referred to metallic tastes, which might be a pointer to what some bodies feel to be a poison.

There are theories about a gene which might switch on another taste-bud, which would explain why only some people get this reaction.

[SlowwHand]

It's on the side. One can eat it or not, like the guacamole.

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
It's on the side. One can eat it or not, like the guacamole.

Fajitas is the meat, right? Are you saying the leaves are on the side, and it never touches the meat?

I know guacamole contains it.

[Cort Haus]

OMG I can't believe this.

Someone seems to be saying it's a hate crime to hate coriander.

http://ihatecilantro.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=d6456f016b0e523a593f2d6976a69aa3&topic=17.0

I did some research here is a list of infamous people who also HATE like cilantro:

Mao
Hitler
Joseph Gredenburg
Kim Jong-il
George W. Bush (ironicly his father likes cilantro)
Morrisey

As someone who grow up in Mexico I am personaly insulted by this website. Cilantro is an integral part of our diet, flavor if our foods and culture. Mexican food is so popular in the US. But if cilantro is left out of the fajita or salsa, then you just took the mex out of mexico. Who are you to create a campaign againts my nations roots?

The aforementioned racist dictators show the mentality of a cilantro hater. You, like them, are dividing out world, drawing the lines and raising the level of hate. If you hate cilantro you hate mexico, you hate me.

I am sick of seeing hate crimes commited against something so simple and peacful as cilantro.

[SlowwHand]

Right, never touches it. For fajitas, the meat is there, probably laying next to onions and green pepper.
On a side dish is leafy cilantro, guacamole, and sour cream. Then theres a saucer with the tortillas.

The actual fajita is rolling up some fajita meat, be it beef or chicken, in the tortilla. You add whatever you want. Onion, green pepper, or whatever.

[Barnabas]

I never tasted it, whats the flavour like?