cilantro

You either love it – or hate it.

I stand in the group of cilantro lovers – I’m happy to pile on that peppery, parsley stunt double. But for a small percentage of the population, including the late French chef Julia Child, the flat-leafed herb tastes oddly like soap, or even bugs.

Cilantro is the Spanish term for the leaves of the coriander plant – you probably recognize coriander as a dried fruit or seed used in many ethnic dishes. The word “coriander” is believed to be derived from the Greek word “koris,” meaning “bedbug.”