It’s February 24, which means it’s National ‘I Hate Coriander’ Day.
Coriander, also known as cilantro to all of our US friends playing at home, is a really controversial herb. Based on your tastebuds, genetics and ability to cook, you’re either going to love the green stuff, or fucking hate it.
According to a study conducted by 23andMe, the coriander hatred could be a result of genetics. Out of 50,000 survey participants, 23andMe found “a SNP (or genetic variation) called rs72921001 to be associated with the trait in a subset of about 25,000 people with European ancestry. (About 13 percent of 23andMe customers with European ancestry answered that cilantro tastes soapy, and 26 percent dislike it.)”
“Cilantro’s aromatic qualities primarily depend on a group of compounds known as aldehydes,” the report found. “One type of aldehyde has been described as being ‘fruity’ and ‘green’ and another type as being ‘soapy’ and ‘pungent’. One of the eight genes near the SNP we identified codes for a receptor called OR6A2, which is known to detect aldehydes such as those found in cilantro.”
As Pedestrian.TV’s resident food hater, I’ve shared my hot food takes on multiple occasions now. I hate bacon, avocado can simply get fucked, and I really haven’t even gotten started yet. So naturally, you’d expect me to have a hot take on coriander, right? Wrong.
I am completely indifferent to this herb.
Will I actively choose to add it to my food? No. But I’m also not opposed to a little bit of the green stuff (no, not weed) in my burrito from Zambreros. I don’t think it necessarily tastes soapy, but I’m also not reaching for the coriander at my local Woolies.
Honestly, I’m convinced it comes down to preparation. I recently made this vegan sopa seca from Smith and Daughters and the coriander really added that *chefs kiss* touch. If you’re half decent at cooking, coriander is a nice way to zest up your meals. If you hate it, you’re probably just not a very good cook.
But regardless of my personal opinion, people love to hate coriander.
Don’t believe me? The ‘I Hate Coriander’ Facebook page has amassed a whopping 269,000 likes. They’ve even got their own merch line if you really need to share your hatred with the world.
In the spirit of National ‘I Hate Coriander’ Day, haters took to Twitter to express their disgust in the herb.
https://twitter.com/littlekgs/status/1230339989067550721
Every day should “I hate coriander day”. IMHO.
— Tony P (@TZP1957) February 24, 2020
https://twitter.com/DingoCobber/status/1231744752682295297
However, those of us who don’t have the tastebuds of a seven-year-old were quick to defend the green stuff.
parsley tastes like grass? but coriander on the other hand, YUM. put some lemon on it and i’m drooling
— oblivion naz (@oblivionnaz) February 23, 2020
Hot tip, if you don’t like coriander, don’t eat it, don’t order it.
But please don’t whinge about it causing restaurants to remove it, dragging the rest of us down to your bland monochromatic tastes. 😁— 𝗪𝗧𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 🪁 (@C604Wt) February 24, 2020
Whether you love coriander, or you’d frankly rather eat dirt, just remember that “nobody cares what boring herb you put in your shitty food.”
https://twitter.com/oihipsterbogan/status/1231785811701420032
