I’ve been wondering for a while now if I might have that gene or whether Cilantro is just a herb i dislike. I can stomach dishes with cilantro in them, but it just stings through everything. No matter how little was put in, it tastes to me like somebody over-cilantro’d the dish. I’ve never eaten anything where I thought “Mmmh, yes, there’s a subtle hint of cilantro” - it’s always “Oh, there’s the cilantro, and it’s just too strong”.
But whenever I read about this online, people say that it tastes like soap. It’s been a couple of years since I was toddler enough to just put soap in my mouth. But in my mind, the taste of soap is mostly bitter, with an overwhelming tropical/fruity/citrussy flavor of whatever the producers decided to make the soap smell like. I also imagine it having a really unpleasant texture/mouthfeel. I have no urge to try eating soap, just so I can compare it with the taste of a herb. And I assume that most people with the Cilantro-gene also haven’t made an actual taste-comparison. So hence my question: In what way does anything - but cilantro in particular - taste like soap?
I’ll do what works. Requesting they don’t add it on the basis of preference results in a plate full of cilantro about half the times I attempt it. Sending it back generally gets it corrected on the next attempt, but not only does that force you into the awkward position of asking to send it back, it also leaves you at a table full of people eating their meals having a good time while you just sit there and wait. Around the time the rest of your party is done eating, your food arrives, and now everyone else of waiting for you.
Fuck it. Cilantro will kill me. Please prepare the food with the appropriate sense of urgency. Idgaf if it gums up the line - that’s the result of them not having their shit together countless times previously. The alternative gums up my entire evening, and I’ve dealt with that enough times.
That’s also on them if they don’t take other allergies seriously. They’re not my fucking doctor - if I tell them I have an allergy, then I have an allergy. Nearly anything can be an allergen, and their job is to accept that information at face value, not audit the diagnosis.
Listen, you seem like a reasonable person and have some kind of medical-sounding username, so I will re-emphasize this: it’s a medical issue. Little kids (and even grown adults) with severe food allergies have a big struggle in getting taken seriously. I have had to take two separate people to the ER for anaphylaxis from food allergies, both seemed so minor and both turned out to have been life-threatening. One was a toddler.
You can make a small positive difference in their lives by inconveniencing yourself here.
I agree that it’s the fault of the restaurant and not yours that it’s like this, and I agree that they should be more vigilant with all allergies.
But unintended victims of crying wolf isn’t so much you or the restaurant workers, it’s allergic people who might die.
I hear you, but granting medical literacy to someone who’s already so far gone as to turn a blind eye to a nut allergy is way beyond anything my own actions or inactions will influence. You’re asking me to try to fix stupid in a society that can’t even be bothered to accept that measles = bad; or that it’s worth covering your face in the middle of a global pandemic. That kid with the nut allergy is fucked - not because some chef was desensitized by a cilantro allergy claim, but because the chef is a fucking moron who doesn’t believe in or care about food allergies.
Hell, think of it like a drill - they get to practice their allergen cross contamination prevention protocols, and if they fuck up I can give them feedback by asking for some Benadryl. Then when the nut allergy kid comes in, they’ll remember their mistake! Win win! …also cilantro allergy IS a thing. I have no idea if it relates to acetyls - that was just some plausible-sounding basis pulled out of my ass to use as ammo in the face of skepticism - but there ARE people who have anaphylactic reactions to cilantro, so again, consider my BS a drill / awareness training.
Saving lives, AND meals! Hooray!