So Clean Carrot Cilantro Soup!

I never understand when customers tell me they find cilantro to taste "soapy."  

This is a not-so-uncommon opinion that stupifies me every time.  Upon further "research," I found a NY Times article, NPR segment, lots of internet chatting around this very topic of Soapy Cilantro.  You can even visit a website called ihatecilantro.com.  I hope no one reading this is part of this anti-cilantro faction, but I have a feeling there are a few of you among us.  ?   Anyone?
Here's some ideas from the NY Times Article I found:

"Some people may be genetically predisposed to dislike cilantro, according to often-cited studies by Charles J. Wysocki of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. But cilantrophobe genetics remain little known and aren’t under systematic investigation. Meanwhile, history, chemistry and neurology have been adding some valuable pieces to the puzzle.

Flavor chemists have found that cilantro aroma is created by a half-dozen or so substances, and most of these are modified fragments of fat molecules called aldehydes. The same or similar aldehydes are also found in soaps and lotions and the bug family of insects.

Soaps are made by fragmenting fat molecules with strongly alkaline lye or its equivalent, and aldehydes are a byproduct of this process, as they are when oxygen in the air attacks the fats and oils in cosmetics. And many bugs make strong-smelling, aldehyde-rich body fluids to attract or repel other creatures.

The published studies of cilantro aroma describe individual aldehydes as having both cilantrolike and soapy qualities. Several flavor chemists told me in e-mail messages that they smell a soapy note in the whole herb as well, but still find its aroma fresh and pleasant."


Julia Child hated cilantro.  Alice Waters loves it.  Here's a recipe from one of her cookbooks:

Alice Waters’ Carrot & Cilantro Soup

from Chez Panisse Vegetables

1 white onion
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch of carrots (~1 lb)
3 potatoes
1-1 1/2 quarts vegetable stock (I used homemade)
1/2 bunch cilantro (add more if cilantro is your thing)
salt and pepper to taste

Peel and slice the onion and put in olive oil to stew. Peel the carrots and potatoes and cut them into large chunks.

Once the onions are soft, add carrots and potatoes, salt generously, and continue to stew for approximately 10 minutes.

Add vegetable stock, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and simmer until the vegetables are cooked and soft. Take the pot off heat.

Add the cilantro to the pot. Puree the soup in a food processor in multiple batches until smooth. Strain through a medium sized sieve.

Reheat on stove and serve with crusty bread!

  
I'd take the smell of cilantro over bags of basil in a closed room any day.  
-Julia