Things You Just Don't Like

[ALB]

Metal. It tastes like metal.

It tastes like a tin can made of soap.

[dracisk]

Yes, there's science on the great cilantro divide. A lot of people who don't like it say it tastes like soap. I don't think it tastes like soap to me, but I sure don't like it.

Metal. It tastes like metal.

Metal may be accurate in terms of what it tastes like to me. I'm not eager to do this, but I may need to taste some cilantro and figure out what it tastes like that's so unappealing.

[reedm]

Just realized baby corn is on my dislike list. If you've lived in England or had cheap Chinese food (or both), I'm sure you'll understand. 

[DonRocks]

Just realized baby corn is on my dislike list. If you've lived in England or had cheap Chinese food (or both), I'm sure you'll understand. 

I understand. I don't mind it, but I understand. What the hell *is* baby corn?

---

Baby Corn (Bart)

[Barbara]

Cilantro hate (tastes like soap) is clearly a genetic thing. Think about where this is an important part of any cuisine--none of them are of Northern European origin.  No, cilantro is used mostly in the hot, tropical areas where spices are predominant.

Julia Child, who was of Scottish descent, also thought cilantro tasted "soapy" and it was one of the only things she clearly didn't like.

I actually like the taste of cilantro; but, I am a natural redhead and my genetic mutation(s) has a direct impact on the level of numbing agents I need in dental work. No lie (you can look it up). I can easily talk to my dentist about this, but it's less easily explained to a restaurant.

I'll happily take the trade-off.

[DonRocks]

Am I the only person who thinks cilantro has something of a soapy taste *and* still manages to like it?

It doesn't always taste like soap, but I distinctly remember being in a Pho house one day, and complaining that they didn't properly rinse the dishes because I could taste the soap (this is over twenty years ago) - the server told me it wasn't soap; it was cilantro. I didn't believe her, but shrugged it off - I knew nothing about any of this stuff at the time.

I wonder if there are varying degrees of tolerance, rather than it being like an on-off switch.

Take peat as an example - I don't like the taste of it very much, but *because I know it's peat*, I can tolerate it, and can almost envision acquiring a taste for it one day (unlike oak in wine - who in the hell wants to eat WOOD?). Does that make sense? In terms of hops, I can't see ever loving it. It's just so damned hoppy.

[porcupine]

 who in the hell wants to eat WOOD?).

I suspect you're being rhetorical, but I can't help but point out that wood is a very popular flavor.

[DonRocks]

I suspect you're being rhetorical, but I can't help but point out that wood is a very popular flavor.

Try oak.

[Genevieve]

I can't stand brussels sprouts - yes, I had overcooked ones as I child, but I have tried well-prepared ones several times and I don't like the flavor. Same with beets, though there were some golden beets I tried that I did like.  Also kale tastes nasty to me, so I haven't done well with the latest trends and often will see that many otherwise delicious-sounding dishes will not be for me (I like spinach and chard and arugula, can't explain why I haven't been able to like kale despite trying it cooked a number of ways). Thank goodness cauliflower is becoming trendy.

The one food that makes me feel ill is caraway seed.  I have no idea why, but it makes me nauseated (as opposed to just strong dislike).

[ktmoomau]

Am I the only person who thinks cilantro has something of a soapy taste *and* still manages to like it?

Yes, you are.  (Joking, everyone is different.) I can eat a little bit without it blowing out my palate, but if I eat too much it will blow out my palate for hours, so I normally politely pick it off or pick around it.  If I pick it off and there is still essence of the flavor it doesn't bother me though, and the stems seem to be even worse than the leaves for me for some reason.