Look, if I could consult Alex Brands, General Biology Post-doc/Fellow at Lehigh University, on everything I would, but I can’t. Luckily, however, the man has plainly laid it out on the table when it comes to the cilantro hate gene myth. So, he doesn’t call it a myth, as such, but he does say that the gene’s existence has NOT been proven:
A google groups search confirms that you are not alone, as there are plenty of
testimonials from people to whom cilantro tastes like soap. There is no mention of
this in the Genetics textbooks I checked, and I did a PubMed search of the primary
research literature, but that came up empty. The short answer is: no one knows (if
they do, they haven’t told anyone)
testimonials from people to whom cilantro tastes like soap. There is no mention of
this in the Genetics textbooks I checked, and I did a PubMed search of the primary
research literature, but that came up empty. The short answer is: no one knows (if
they do, they haven’t told anyone)
So, Mr. Brands does go on to say the soap gene thing would be a reasonable hypothesis, but that given the current state of science funding in this country it will probably never be proven. So, while it might seem like the post-doc is favoring the idea that there is such a gene, in the end he’s unable to find any conclusive evidence that there actually is one. So, what he calls a reasonable hypothesis, I’ll call pure conjecture.
Or worse. It seems to me that people want to think there is such a gene. That they’re born with a condition that prohibits them from enjoying something, that being born with such a condition makes it not their fault and ok somehow. But I wonder, what’s so wrong about not liking everything? I mean, hating cilantro so much makes everything else taste so much better; it’s all about juxtaposition. So, really, not liking just one thing (albeit a thing that is f#$&ing everywhere) is a relatively small price to pay for being able to then like everything else more. I HATE cilantro, but I LOVE oysters.
Uh, no evidence does not mean it doesn't exist. And we do know some taste is quite genetic. which means there's cicumstancial evidence the gene exists. Especially when people's reactions are so disparate with the taste described so differently. So, it's to TBD. It's like gene themselves were just myths until they were actually proven.
I'm very interested in this because a friend of mine recently told me that she and her dad despise cilantro because it tastes like soap. I thought, "I can't even remember what cilantro tastes like, and I've eaten lots of food with cilantro in it." So the next time I went to the grocery store I sneaked a leaf from the fresh stuff and popped it into my mouth.I was immediately overwhelmed by the impulse to gag, and by an indescribably revolting old-soap taste in my mouth. I spit out the leaf and realised that the taste wasn't going away. I had to finish my shopping with that horrible lingering taste, and it didn't go away until I got home and washed my mouth out with Scope. I had no idea that a simple herb could taste so awful. I called my friend and said that cilantro was probably the reason I didn't like certain foods and she said, "Of course it's the reason. Welcome to the club." So, I guess, I officially became aware of cilantro tasting like soap, only at the grand old age of thirty-nine.
I don't think it's an issue of there being a problem with not liking a food so much as an attempt to explain the fact that cilantro seems to taste completely different to different people. Not different opinions on the same flavor, more like they are not even eating the same thing.
Without being offensive, Erin H. seems to me to be ignorant of science and scientific principles. Taste of anything is biologic in origin. Perhaps this will help the non-bio geeks with their understanding:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/science/12psychedelics.html?ref=science
What has been proven by 2 studies (sorry I haven’t got the cites handy) is an inability to taste some of the compounds in cilantro are inherited, suggesting a genetic predisposition to disliking it.
This would not be a “Clilantro Hate Gene”, the same componds are in many other plants particularly those reated to cilantro.
There is nothing worng or bad sbout this; everyone has certian inherited traits, that is partly what makes us who we are.
Regarding your “expert”, I’m wishing him luck getting his Doc and passing his orals because his reasoning (as you state it) is faulty; that he dones not know about such traints does not mean they do not exisit.
However, he might be interested to know one study compared the taste reaction of identical and graternal twins, and there was a statistically significant correlation of the idendical twins but not the fraternal twins, which is generally accepted to be evidence of genetic inheritance.
@Umang It seems two days later, the New York Times wrote an article titled “Cilantro Haters, It’s Not Your Fault” specifically on this topic: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html
Of course the twins study widely reported in October of 2011 indicates a genetic component and that’s more hard science than Dr. Gottfried musings of the human minds perception of Clilantro in the NYT article of 4/14/2010.