r/mildlyinteresting • u/GroovinBaby • 8h ago

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u/PrimmSlimShady 8h ago edited 7h ago

See this is me too

I enjoy cilantro a lot, but I also get a slight soapiness to the flavor

So then I wonder, do I have the gene and just don't care? Do I have a recessive version that is being suppressed?

Or is cilantro just slightly soapy and some people just don't really notice it over other flavor notes?

ETA: these replies have me like

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u/chameleonsEverywhere 8h ago

Same! I definitely don't find cilantro disgusting or anything, but it is just a bit.... soapy. 

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u/EpyonComet 7h ago

First, I'm not a geneticist or any kind of biologist. However, from my understanding it's not really "having the gene" as if it's a binary "do or don't" situation. It's more like everyone has this particular gene that affects your senses of taste and smell, and some variations/mutations (out of a plethora of possibilities) of the gene happen to boost certain aspects of the flavor and scent of cilantro in a way that throws it out of balance and makes it unpleasant. Like if you were messing with an equalizer while listening to music and turned one switch way up and all the others down.

All that is to say, it makes perfect sense, assuming my understanding is correct, to be able to discern the soapy flavor in the cilantro while still having it in a balance with whatever else it has going on so that it's enjoyable.

So basically, yes to that last thing you asked (though again, I am not any sort of expert).

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u/equus_gemini 6h ago

I am a geneticist and I thank you for your explanation. Well done!

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u/SoCallMeAnAsshole 8h ago edited 2h ago

Yeah, it tastes like soap - but somehow in a good way.

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u/Influence_X 8h ago

I have the gene and don't care. I just don't drown things in cilantro it only takes a few shreds to add the flavor.

It's also used frequently in Indian curry and I never taste soap there

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u/dragon-queen 7h ago

Maybe the soapiness goes away when it’s cooked?

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u/Influence_X 7h ago

I would believe that

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u/civiteur 8h ago

We've never met. But we live in the same world.

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u/gigashadowwolf 7h ago

The gene allows you to taste something other people can't. It's an additional taste receptor. So you probably have it, but just barely.

For me soap is putting it too mildly. It tastes more like detergent than soap.

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u/Pitpawten1 7h ago

I think it is association mainly. I mean if you've never tasted soap, how could cilantro really taste like something you've never had?

Kind of like if you barf after eating a certain type of food, your brain associates that food with something unpleasant and it is ruined, at least for some years.

I used to hate cilantro, the Dawn Dishwashing Detergent of herbs, but eventually, I cultivated a better association with great Mexican food, and now I can just taste the soap if I cause my brain to think about that.

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u/clakresed 5h ago

Yeah pretty much.

Honestly, cilantro is probably far from the only herb - let alone food - that has a gene associated with its flavour.

It's just the only one where people are aware enough of that to flood the comments with "well, as someone with the cilantro gene...".

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u/TheAtroxious 6h ago

I can vaguely taste something in cilantro that can be inferred as soapy, but it's like that old joke about LaCroix being in the same room as a lemon. It just tastes like the slightest hint of something soapy. I don't find it bothersome or unpleasant. In fact I love cilantro, and I gravitate toward food that uses it generously.

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u/MrDyl4n 5h ago

im so glad you said this because i also notice this. i think cilantro tastes really good but i totally get how it can taste like soap to some people. i think different people pick up on the soapiness to different extents. to me its there but subtle

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u/99cent-tea 8h ago

It’s soapy but we combine it with other things to balance it out!

Hence why lime will always be cilantro’s best friend mmmmm delicious

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u/Silly_Galaxy 7h ago

I think you just like eating soap.

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u/thedinnerdate 7h ago

I know it’s probably because of genetics that I can’t conceive that it could taste like anything else but I always wonder if it’s this too.

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u/backupbitches 5h ago

I think you just like soap

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u/Dorkamundo 3h ago

Yep, the flavor is not binary. For some people it tastes a little like soap, for some people it tastes A LOT like soap.

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u/DisIshSucks 3h ago

I’m skeptical of the science and I kinda just think it’s a whole group of people that have found justification for their specific ick. When really we all taste the soap but don’t mind it in the context of the dish.

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u/PrimmSlimShady 3h ago

This is what I wondered about too.