From the world of fuzzy science comes the theory (some call it a fact) that there’s a genetic variation that causes people to despise the taste of cilantro. Granted, the test was pretty darn comprehensive – it consisted of nearly 30,000 people.
There are really two questions that need to be answered. First, how is it possible that an herb that is utterly despised by so many people (21% of east Asians hate it, for example) loved by so many others. For a food to be so polarizing is amazing and does not play well with the evolutionary thoughts of taste. The second (and arguably more important) question is why on earth would someone take the time to do genetic testing on 30,000 people to find out why they hate cilantro?
Bonus question: why would someone then make an infographic about the hatred towards cilantro? For better or for worse, here it is…
