My cilantro tastes like stinkbug

[gfweb]

I planted some in a pot with parsley. The parsley is fine, but the cilantro tastes like like stinkbug with only a hint of cilantro.

Your thoughts?

[ePressureCooker]

I have no idea what part of the growing conditions would purportedly change the taste, perhaps you should consider changing the brand of cilantro you planted, or the brand of fertilizer you use.

Was this used fresh only? Have you tried cooking the cilantro as well, perhaps making a salsa verde with it?

[gfweb]

It was used fresh. This is a new taste in cilantro for me, definitely not the taste I expected.

It will not have the chance to be cooked, its already in the trash. My hands still smell of stinkbug/cilantro.

Ewww.

[Lisa Shock]

How mature is the plant? Sometimes, baby herbs can be almost flavorless or have odd flavors.

[gfweb]

How mature is the plant? Sometimes, baby herbs can be almost flavorless or have odd flavors.

Good thought. It was young.

[FeChef]

I planted some in a pot with parsley. The parsley is fine, but the cilantro tastes like like stinkbug with only a hint of cilantro.

Your thoughts?

Curious minds want to know how you know what stinkbug taste like?

That said, I dont use cilantro enough to bother growing it. Its so cheap at farmers markets and places like Aldi's and Bottom dollar. ( $0.50 per bunch )

[huiray]

I planted some in a pot with parsley. The parsley is fine, but the cilantro tastes like like stinkbug with only a hint of cilantro.

Your thoughts?

Curious minds want to know how you know what stinkbug taste like?

That said, I dont use cilantro enough to bother growing it. Its so cheap at farmers markets and places like Aldi's and Bottom dollar. ( $0.50 per bunch )

I get them at 3 (LARGE) bunches for US$1 at my local Chinese grocers. :-)

[gfweb]

I use very little of it and it seemed like a good idea to have a pot of it. But I think I'll take your advice and go back to buying it.

[FeChef]

I planted some in a pot with parsley. The parsley is fine, but the cilantro tastes like like stinkbug with only a hint of cilantro.

Your thoughts?

Curious minds want to know how you know what stinkbug taste like?

That said, I dont use cilantro enough to bother growing it. Its so cheap at farmers markets and places like Aldi's and Bottom dollar. ( $0.50 per bunch )

I get them at 3 (LARGE) bunches for US$1 at my local Chinese grocers. :-)

If i bought 3 bunches for $1, two and a half bunches would spoil 3 weeks later.

[FeChef]

I use very little of it and it seemed like a good idea to have a pot of it. But I think I'll take your advice and go back to buying it.

So your going to dodge the question of how you know what a stinkbug taste like then?

[gfweb]

I use very little of it and it seemed like a good idea to have a pot of it. But I think I'll take your advice and go back to buying it.

So your going to dodge the question of how you know what a stinkbug taste like then?

It tasted like stinkbug smells, instead of the typical ivory soap taste of cilantro.

Which is why I don't use much of it. I've learned to dislike it less recently though.

[ePressureCooker]

I know you already threw what you had in the trash, but if you've "learned to dislike [cilantro] less lately, you might want to test cooking with it in future. Takes on a totally different taste when cooked, for example if you made chile verde...

[FeChef]

I only eat fresh raw cilantro on taco's. I do add cilantro while cooking chili, rice and beans, and spanish rice.

[huiray]

I only eat fresh raw cilantro on taco's. I do add cilantro while cooking chili, rice and beans, and spanish rice.

Aha. In Chinese/Cantonese cookery fresh coriander leaves are everywhere. As a garnish, as part of the "composition" of dish, etc etc. Used extensively in other cuisines (e.g. SE Asian) almost as a vegetable, in some dishes. :-)

[Ttogull]

It tasted like stinkbug smells, instead of the typical ivory soap taste of cilantro.

Which is why I don't use much of it. I've learned to dislike it less recently though.

Interesting. Cilantro tastes nothing like soap to me, and stink bugs don't stink. We have a LOT where I live, and I crush them in hopes I can discover why people make such a stink about them.

According to this article, there are similarities in soap and bug smells that those poor souls cursed with the unfortunate dislike of cilantro might pick up. Maybe your homemade cilantro differs slightly from commercial and smells like bugs rather than soap.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html

[SylviaLovegren]

Stinkbugs stink when you bite them.

Very truly yours,

A veteran of picking raspberries in the Pac NW

[gfweb]

They stink if you annoy them too.

[rotuts]

this might be genetic: both the soapy impression of cilantro and tasting stinkbugs.

people who like cilantro would not call it soapy, and they dont taste stinkbugs.

interesting genetic link, previously undocumented.

[FeChef]

Stinkbugs stink when you bite them.

Very truly yours,

A veteran of picking raspberries in the Pac NW

Ive ate one on a drunken dare. I dont remember it having a smell. It was bitter and crunchy is all i vaguely remember.

[gfweb]

Either you are one of those who cannot smell stinkbug ....or you were so sh!tfaced that your sense of smell was shot.

[FeChef]

Either you are one of those who cannot smell stinkbug ....or you were so sh!tfaced that your sense of smell was shot.

Its possible. But im thinking maybe there are different species of stinkbugs, and the ones we have around here dont smell, or maybe only male or female stinkbugs smell, or maybe they only smell when they mature. We get alot of these bugs and i dont recall them ever smelling, but maybe im imune to there smell.

[Sidney]

Cilantro tastes disgusting to my palate I was told that it started being used in very hot countries when there was no refridgeration to hide the taste of putrefying meat I would prefer the flavour of bad meat.Even the smell of fresh coriander when used in cooking is nauseating,strangely I have no problem with coriander seed.

[huiray]

Assuming we are talking about the brown marmorated stink bug, the chemicals primarily responsible for the "stink" would seem to be trans-2-decenal and trans-2-octenal. Cilantro also contains trans-2-decenal, and the smell of stink bug has been described by some as smelling as cilantro, yes. The perception of the odor of the chemicals may have a genetic component/individual variability.

Interestingly, both chemicals are also used as additives in the perfume and food industries. :-)

http://chenected.aiche.org/chemicals/stink-bug-breakdown/

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/05/fighting-the-stink-bug.html

http://www.clemson.edu/precisionag/Stink%20Bug.pdf

http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rw1537701.html

http://www.perfumerflavorist.com/flavor/rawmaterials/natural/106137548.html

http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rw1005621.html

http://smellslikescience.com/in-defense-of-cilantro/

http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.2096

http://www.nature.com/news/soapy-taste-of-coriander-linked-to-genetic-variants-1.11398

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-genetic-link-cilantro-coriander.html

http://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/cilantro-love-hate-genetic-trait/

http://centennial.rucares.org/index.php?page=Genes_Influence_Smell

...and so on...

[Special K]

I think the reason for the odd tasting cilantro might be that you planted it in the same pot as your parsley. Apparently they just don't like each other. They're in the same family (carrot), and they compete for nutrients and exude substances to stunt each other. (This is from an hub article by "The Herb Lady," which for some reason I can't paste in here.)

So, if you want to try again, you might try separate pots.

Hope this helps.

K

[gfweb]

Either you are one of those who cannot smell stinkbug ....or you were so sh!tfaced that your sense of smell was shot.

Its possible. But im thinking maybe there are different species of stinkbugs, and the ones we have around here dont smell, or maybe only male or female stinkbugs smell, or maybe they only smell when they mature. We get alot of these bugs and i dont recall them ever smelling, but maybe im imune to there smell.

We have two stinkbugs in my part of the world...the native greenish-backed one (which is almost pretty) and the invasive brown bug from somewhere in Asia (Korea, I think) which are far more numerous and about as stinky as the native.

How does cilantro taste to you?