Cilantro is the world's most divisive (legal) herb.
While some consider it a divine accent to most dishes, others have described it as "soapy," even "poisonous." There's a Facebook page called "I Hate Cilantro — an Anti-Cilantro Community" that boasts 11,000 likes, and beloved chef Julia Child once remarked in an interview with Larry King that it has a "dead taste."
Why such an extreme reaction?
Researchers aren't so sure. Studies have identified genes that might influence our appreciation of cilantro, but it's still just might be a matter of taste — one example of a sense that continues to befuddle scientists.
"There is a field that studies taste, and a field that studies smell, but very few people study their interactions. Taste and smell are still less understood than the other sense systems," says Yale neuroscientist Dana Small.
Sight and hearing, which seem more complex, are reasonably understood — while our everyday reactions to the foods we ingest remains a conundrum.
But then mysteries are right up science writer Mary Roach's alley. Roach has taken on sex, death and the supernatural in her previous bestsellers (respectively "Bonk," "Stiff," and "Spook"), and now she's back with "Gulp," tackling the most taboo of subjects: our digestive systems.
Most of the book isn't for the weak of stomach. Does one really to know what happens to our food after we swallow it? (For those who do, pick up the book for its chapters on Elvis Presley's constipation). But unlocking the puzzle of flavor is a delicious mystery.
Our sense of taste acts as the body's "gatekeeper," deflecting food that may be toxic (rotten or poisonous) and inviting in nutrient-rich foods (salts, sugars and fats) that are key to survival.
There are also taste receptors located in the gut, voice box and pancreas — but only the tongue's receptors report to the brain, where taste is discerned. The rest are believed to trigger hormonal responses and defensive reactions, such as vomiting.
Sweetness, for one, is believed to be enjoyed by nearly all humans because the brain associates it with fuel. Conversely, bitterness is often (but not universally) disliked because it can be a signal of poison.
Taste is the result of our estimated 10,000 taste buds (and their receptors) recognizing food chemicals and translating them into categories: sweet, bitter, salty, sour and savory.
This likely brings forth flashbacks of kindergarten, when we were forced to remember the diagram of the tongue mapped out into distinct locations for each taste (sweet on the tip, bitter in the back, for examples). Forget it — the diagram has been debunked. Instead, the taste buds and their varying receptors are located all over the tongue. No one area is responsible for one taste.
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