Why coriander tastes like lime to some people and soap to others
Most people find coriander leaves fresh and citrusy, but a sizeable minority taste soap. Twin studies and a genetic survey of nearly 30,000 people point to variants including OR6A2, a smell-receptor gene sensitive to aldehydes. The herb's Greek name may even come from the word for bed bug.
Coriandrum sativum is a soft annual in the carrot family, growing to about 50 centimetres, with broad lower leaves, feathery upper ones and small white or pale pink flower clusters. Every part is edible. In the United States the leaves are called cilantro, the Spanish word, because of their heavy use in Mexican cooking, while the dried fruits keep the name coriander.
Taste splits along genetic and cultural lines. About 80 percent of identical twins share the same verdict on the herb, against roughly half of fraternal twins. Dislike was reported by 21 percent of East Asians and 17 percent of Europeans in one study, but only 3 percent of Middle Eastern participants, groups whose cuisines use coriander heavily. The leaves get their flavour mainly from aldehydes such as 2-decenal, while the seeds are dominated by linalool, which gives them a warm, orange-like note. Some people are genuinely allergic: in one study of suspected spice allergies, 32 percent of children's skin-prick tests reacted to coriander and its relatives.
The plant is native to the Mediterranean Basin, and research on wild populations points to Israel and Portugal as possible homes. Desiccated fruits from Israel's Nahal Hemar Cave, dated six to eight thousand years ago, may be the oldest coriander ever found. About 500 millilitres of it sat in Tutankhamun's tomb, and since it does not grow wild in Egypt that suggests deliberate cultivation. The Ebers Papyrus of around 1550 BCE mentions it, and a Linear B tablet from Pylos records it being grown for perfume. The Mycenaean word ko-ri-ja-da-na is the earliest written form of the name.
Uses span the globe. Indian cooks roast the seeds and pair them with cumin in the mix called dhania jeera, Thai cooks pound the stronger-tasting roots into curry pastes, Germans and South Africans season sausages with the seed, and Belgian wheat beers combine it with orange peel. It is a key botanical in gin and is listed among the original ingredients of the secret Coca-Cola formula.
Source: Coriander
