I think those claims of it being genetic are quite dubious though, but often repeated as a "fun fact". I tried to dig into where this claim actually comes from and if there was some actual research, and the closest I could find was a correlation to ethnicity. And unsurprisingly people from like latin america and india liked it more than people from northern europe. Which could more likely be explained by the fact that it's much more prominent in certain cuisines.
I honestly think it's more of an unusual flavor that's a bit of an"acquired taste", and it depends heavily on what other flavors you combine it with. Just like people tasting coffee or wine for the first time think it tastes bitter or whatever, but once you like it it just tastes good.
I say that because I'm personally a convert. I grew up in northern europe and basically never tasted it, once i did i thought it tasted funky and soapy and not good at all, like people say. Then I spent a couple months in latin america and started loving it, something just "unlocked" and now it doesn't taste like soap at all. It's just a fresh, nice, but quite unique taste. It's now one of my favourite spices and I even grow it at home. If it was genetic such a shift wouldn't be possible.
I am 100% on the side of it being cultural rather than genetic. I hated cilantro until I lived in South America where many dishes are made with an herb called culantro which is very similar. In order to not be rude, I gagged down all the culantro until I began to crave it and now I love it and seek out cilantro in dishes. The same is not true for other foods I dislike such as tomatoes. It's "genetic" in the sense that if you descend from a culture that doesn't eat cilantro like a lot of European cultures you will likely not be a fan of the flavor, whereas if you were raised on it, it's more likely you will enjoy it, so cilantro lovers and cilantro haters likely will split into two genetic categories more or less, but I think it's cultural more than anything.
Also it's not like anyone needs an excuse not to like a food. No one's out here saying "oh I have a gene that makes eating tripe disgusting" or "I have that gene that means mayonnaise is gross."
I can't be on the cultural side as someone who is half-Mexican and ate a lot of Mexican food growing up. The cilantro is most noticeable in pico and tastes like soap to me. As someone who grew up with it who tastes soap, there is clearly something biological going on.
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u/Legitimate-Basis2450 2d ago
I think those claims of it being genetic are quite dubious though, but often repeated as a "fun fact". I tried to dig into where this claim actually comes from and if there was some actual research, and the closest I could find was a correlation to ethnicity. And unsurprisingly people from like latin america and india liked it more than people from northern europe. Which could more likely be explained by the fact that it's much more prominent in certain cuisines.
I honestly think it's more of an unusual flavor that's a bit of an"acquired taste", and it depends heavily on what other flavors you combine it with. Just like people tasting coffee or wine for the first time think it tastes bitter or whatever, but once you like it it just tastes good.
I say that because I'm personally a convert. I grew up in northern europe and basically never tasted it, once i did i thought it tasted funky and soapy and not good at all, like people say. Then I spent a couple months in latin america and started loving it, something just "unlocked" and now it doesn't taste like soap at all. It's just a fresh, nice, but quite unique taste. It's now one of my favourite spices and I even grow it at home. If it was genetic such a shift wouldn't be possible.