Exemplary alleles

originally posted by SFJoe:
Or partly explained, anyway. Cilantro tastes soapy to me, but I like it anyway.
Click to expand...

Do you find that it varies with the sample? In some cases, I begin to understand the "soapy" objection to its flavor, but in others I get no hint of soap; in all cases, however, I like the flavor.

Mark Lipton
(off to scarf down a San Francisco-style burrito before a hiring committee mtg)
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
Or partly explained, anyway. Cilantro tastes soapy to me, but I like it anyway.
Click to expand...

likewise. first time out, booze tasted pretty soapy too. maybe someone could get a grant to figure out why more people persist with the one than the other.

r slicker
 
I think it likely a paralogism is going on here. If there is a genetic variation that accounts for cilantro haters getting a different flavor from cilantro than we do, then even if both those with the genetic difference and those without use the metaphor of a soapy taste to describe a sensation they get from the herb, nevertheless they are describing different flavors. Otherwise the genetic variation isn't in fact explaining anything.

With all due respect, the situation doesn't seem remotely analogous to acquired tastes, such as for alcohol or tobacco.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
If there is a genetic variation that accounts for cilantro haters getting a different flavor from cilantro than we do.
Click to expand...

The Lone Ranger and Tonto
Were riding down the Navajo Trail
When a band of Indians found em
Proceeded to surround em and
The Lone Ranger turned kinda pale

Tonto, our lives are in danger
We got to get away if we can
Tonto just looked at Lone Ranger
What you mean, we, white man

Tell me what you mean
(We, white man)
Tell me what you mean
(We)
Tell me what you mean
(We, white man)
Tell me what you mean
(We)

r.s
 
originally posted by richard slicker:
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
If there is a genetic variation that accounts for cilantro haters getting a different flavor from cilantro than we do.
Click to expand...

The Lone Ranger and Tonto
Were riding down the Navajo Trail
When a band of Indians found em
Proceeded to surround em and
The Lone Ranger turned kinda pale

Tonto, our lives are in danger
We got to get away if we can
Tonto just looked at Lone Ranger
What you mean, we, white man

Tell me what you mean
(We, white man)
Tell me what you mean
(We)
Tell me what you mean
(We, white man)
Tell me what you mean
(We)

r.s
Click to expand...

I meant, we people who like cilantro (me and anybody else) and must therefore not have the gene that makes it unpalatable. But you're right, of course, that some people with that gene could have gone and acquired the taste for what previously they found inedible and they might think of themselves as part of that we. Seems unlikely, though.

Have you ever tried to translate Lone Ranger into French,by the way?
 
The first time I ate coriander chutney in a fine Indian restaurant, the owner stood next to the table and instructed me: Take a bite - ew, soapy! Take another - well, not that bad. Take one more - I love it!

Loving cilantro in the late 1970s was a challenge - I used to have to schlep out to the far MD or VA suburbs to find little hole in the wall Indian or Central American markets to buy it. Now of course you can get it at the 7-11. Progress!
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
Or partly explained, anyway. Cilantro tastes soapy to me, but I like it anyway.
Click to expand...

That's good to hear, as it'll be in the crab salad on Saturday. Of course the birthday boy hates cilantro...
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by SFJoe:
Or partly explained, anyway. Cilantro tastes soapy to me, but I like it anyway.
Click to expand...

Do you find that it varies with the sample? In some cases, I begin to understand the "soapy" objection to its flavor, but in others I get no hint of soap; in all cases, however, I like the flavor.

Mark Lipton
(off to scarf down a San Francisco-style burrito before a hiring committee mtg)
Click to expand...

That's a good wiki entry, it's nice to see the role of the foil wrapping recognized. What many wanabee burrito-makers outside California did not realize (and some still don't) was that the tight wrapping in foil is a critical last step in the cooking of the burrito, ensuring both the right texture and structural integrity. That's why it needs to be done even if you are eating on-premise.
 
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