Coriander a native of the Mediterranean has been a flavoring agent for thousands of years. Today coriander and coriander seeds are an integral part of countless cuisines around the world including Mexican Thai Indian and more. However despite the herb’s prevalence there is a percentage of the population that can’t stand its taste. For some cilantro has a bitter soapy flavor rather than a bright citrus flavor. While it’s possible to simply dislike the taste of cilantro for some people the source of their aversion lives in their DNA.
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Why do some people hate cilantro?
Coriander contains an organic chemical known as aldehyde. Aldehydes are naturally found in many foods including peas cinnamon and vanilla. In addition to these natural foods synthetic aldehydes are also used to make products like soaps detergents and perfumes such as the famous Chanel No. 5. Over the years several studies have determined that some people are born with a gene called OR6A2 that makes them particularly sensitive to aldehydes. According to a study from Cornell University “OR6A2 may be the olfactory receptor responsible for detecting the soapy odor of cilantro.” Simply put if you have the OR6A2 gene you are more likely to dislike cilantro due to its soapy taste.
A study published in the journal Flavour found that the percentage of people who dislike cilantro ranges from 3 to 21 percent of the population. Interestingly a person’s ethnicity seems to have a significant impact on whether or not they like the herb. According to the study “the percentage of subjects classified as not liking cilantro was 21 percent for East Asians 17 percent for Caucasians 14 percent for people of African descent 7 percent for South Asians 4 percent for Hispanics and 3 percent for Middle Easterners.”
Looking at these numbers you might assume that the closer someone’s ancestors lived to where cilantro was first cultivated in the Mediterranean the less likely they are to dislike it. But this ignores the importance of culture in a person’s culinary preferences. In an interview with the New York Times neuroscientist and former cilantro hater Jay Gottfried explains that cilantro still reminds him of soap and the more he eats it the more he’s able to associate it with positive experiences like enjoying a meal with friends. “For example people in countries where cilantro is eaten experience it every day” he says. So if you live in a region where cilantro is particularly popular you’re more likely to like it if you eat it regularly even if you have the gene that emphasizes its soapy flavor.
