VeganMoFo 2016 #27: Coriander and challenging genetics.

27th: Changed Opinion – Was there a food you used to hate, and now don’t?

Let's talk about my newfound love of capsicum. Haha, just kidding. Friends know that I detest capsicum with a certain hate that can only be reserved for the devil vegetable sent from the fiery pits of hell to ruin good food that capsicum is. Oh no, there will be no salvaging that relationship.

So instead lets talk about fresh coriander (or cilantro, for my US friends). For years and years I could not abide fresh coriander, it tasted like someone was spraying soap up my nostrils. Even if I picked it off as a garnish, I could still taste its sudsy residue on my food. Gross. I used to sub in either parsley or mint for it in recipes, depending on what seemed appropriate.

One day I decided that I should try and love coriander because it was in so many recipes. I set about making a plan as to how I would introduce it in a non-threatening non-soapy way, and work from there. And hopefully one day I would love it.

The recipe I chose was Cilantro Sour Cream from Veganomicon.



This is some sort of magic recipe, because I loved it! And just like that, I could eat coriander. In fact, I love coriander now. And not just blended or cooked into things, I will liberally garnish it on top of things or throw it in salads. Oh coriander, you are so tasty!



This could just be a simple tale of changing my mind about a food, but it gets more interesting. Coriander hating has been linked to genetics. Some people are genetically predisposed to find that coriander tastes like soap! Basically, I may have changed my genetics. Hello, I am the silliest superhero ever. I took my one shot and changing my genetics, and I used it up so I could like coriander. Fear me!

Actually, this article talks about some of the other reasons people might not like coriander, and that you can change your preferences sometimes, so maybe I just did that. Though I like my superhero genetic theory better.

What is your super obscure superpower?

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Gosh, our old verandah sure did give us lots of pretty photos of cats gazing through the bars. My third cat Patches, looking very handsome. We had our gentle giant for three and a half glorious years before he left us when I was in grade 7.