5.6+Debby+why does cilantro taste like soap

The answer can be yes and no. About 25 percent of the population are thought to be supertasters. So obviously, while you can be both a supertaster and averse to cilantro, like me, you can also just have the anti-cilantro thing, like my mom. There is clearly some overlap, but in and of itself, an aversion to cilantro does not necessarily indicate supertasting, and you would need to do further exploration to determine if you are one, or both. And the level varies greatly.

Because there is not just one gene involved, the severity of cilantro aversion seems to vary from person to person. While I think cilantro tastes of soap, if it is used in cooking rather than raw, and in minimal amounts, I can tolerate it. And in my own cooking, especially for Indian or Mexican dishes, I will use a combination of minced cilantro stems and chopped parsley leaves to give a hint of the flavor without that soapy punch. But for many, any amount of cilantro is just too much.

If you think cilantro tastes soapy, there are some things you can do. 

Some say that you can help to mitigate the impact with regular exposure, so if you want to build up some tolerance, you can start adding some amounts of cilantro to your cooking and ramp it up as you begin to tolerate it better.

You can also do as I do, working with cilantro stems and not leaves, as I find those much less soapy. And parsley is a fine substitution in many dishes if you don't want to get anywhere near cilantro.

Luckily, it is just the fresh plant that tastes of soap, so you can still use coriander seeds, which are the dried seeds of the cilantro plant, without any ill effect. I will sometimes add crushed coriander seeds to dishes where I have eliminated cilantro, just to add a bit of the earthy notes back.