I don't think cilantro preferences are as set in stone as the story alludes.
Until I figured out it was cilantro, I always assumed the local Mexican place was bad at rinsing their dishes. I still hate the flavor. No doubt some people with the soap gene can learn to enjoy it though. Anytime I comes up, someone that clearly tastes soap will mention that they like it anyway.
I hate this fact because cilantro has become fashionable and has made eating out into a bit of a gamble. I'd be thrilled if I started liking it, or at least stopped hating it so much.
Is this whole thread about fresh cilantro leaves/stems, as I thought?
Or the ground form of its seeds which is totally different and generally called coriander? (At least in the US.)
Just because I've never heard of anyone refer to any kind of leaf as tasting like "dust".
And I thought the "soapy" thing was exclusively a reaction to the leaves, not ground coriander.
Because if you look at nationwide labeling, cilantro seems to refer exclusively to the leaves, and coriander exclusively to the seeds, and I've never seen anything different within the US:
https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=cilantro
https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=coriander
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/search?text=cilantro
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/search?text=coriander
And if both terms can be used for the leaves, is there anywhere that calls the ground seeds cilantro?
I think in Ireland they called everything coriander too though i don't recall exactly. But I'd never heard the term Cilantro till i went to a Mexican restaurant in Spain :)
However, I have seen the opposite situation, Mexican people calling the seeds "coriandro", probably due to USA influence.
But I couldn't quickly find an online reference clarifying this either way. So I don't know.
"Coriander" was the standard English word, and "cilantro" the standard Spanish word, way before the European arrival to the Americas.
My understanding is that American English got the word "cilantro" for the leaves from Mexican cuisine... and then Mexican Spanish did the opposite and took the word "coriandro" for the seeds from English, to differentiate between the leaves and the seeds. I don't know how common the word is though; I have never been to Mexico so don't take my word for it.
However, European English and Spanish still use just one word each. If you ask me, I will say "hojas de cilantro" (leaves) and "semillas de cilantro" (seeds). It is not so common in our cuisine, so there is no need to have different words.
Agreed. (Brit here.)
It's all "coriander." By default the term refers to the leaves, and if you meant the seeds you'd specify "coriander seeds". I didn't learn the Americanism "cilantro" until I was an adult.
Apparently "chinese parsley" is another term for it, perhaps less common now (haven't heard that in a while).
I think a better description of the taste for me is that it tastes like stink bugs smell (which to me is strongly reminiscent of old dust, which is how I thought of it before I smelled a stink bug).
Reading the other comments, I didn't realize calling the leaves "cilantro" wasn't universal. My apologies for the confusion!