I Like Herb

Posted by Jackson on Feb. 13, 2009

This morning’s Journal has a fun article sure to make the rounds of the foodie blogosphere:

After picking up a vegetable burrito on his way home from work, Mike Racanelli planted himself in front of his television and took a bite. The smell hit him immediately: cilantro.

Irate, the 29-year-old Chicago band manager drove 20 miles back to the Mexican restaurant where he’d bought the offending item, threw it on the counter, he recalls, and “raised hell,” demanding a cilantro-free replacement “immediately.”

…

But few foods elicit such heated negative reactions. Many people say it tastes soapy, rotten or just plain vile. Just a whiff of it is enough to make them push away their plates.

Cilantro lovers say it has a refreshing, lemony or limelike flavor that complements everything from guacamole to curry. It’s a key ingredient in a range of ethnic cuisines, including Mexican, Indian and Chinese.

Worth reading in full. And, for the record, I’m firmly in the tastes-like-lemon-who-loves-it-on-Mexican-food category. IIRC our own Baylen stands in the polar camp. Pistols at dawn!

UPDATE: OK, so Baylen does like it. Good to hear. Together we man the cilantro ramparts, brothers-in-arms!

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  • YDRC. IMO, cilantro does have a soapy taste (99 44/100 % pure). But I got over it years ago and love the stuff.
  • The key concept here is Mexican food, which is the sort of food one eats when one can't afford anything better. Actually paying to eat Mexican food is one of those Stuff White People Like affectations.

    Putting cilantro on Mexican food is like putting salt on dog poo -- it might make it better, it might make it worse, but any change is negligible.
  • Actually paying to eat Mexican food is one of those Stuff White People Like affectations. Putting cilantro on Mexican food is like putting salt on dog poo. It might make it better, it might make it worse, but any change is negligible.
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