He doesn’t just casually hate it–as if that were possible–he really loathes the stuff: His secret dream is to “be filthy rich, grow 20 acre of cilantro, and drop a bomb on it.” He kids. I asked Fabio how hating cilantro has affected his life, he laughs in characteristic Fabio manner and says it hasn’t affected his life of course but then admits “People are having fun with me when I say I hate cilantro… [It’s] something fun.”
Fabio feels like he’s the only member of a club. “No way” I assured him. Please read the Wall Street Journal or check out IHateCilantro.com or Facebook or anything–you aren’t alone! He feels the herb tastes like soap, and there is a lot of support out there for that opinion.
I’m not the only one who has noticed that cilantro is everywhere. Fabio agrees and is not happy about its growing prevalence. While would-be fancy chefs find cilantro sophisticated, new and exciting–Fabio says it just wouldn’t happen in Italy: “It’s outlawed in Italy,” he jokes.
Once he and his (Italian) mother prepared meatballs and accidentally purchased cilantro (in the U.S.) instead of parsley–they look similar. Neither noticed the mistake until they tried them–they were both repulsed.
Erin: Does your mother not like cilantro either?
Fabio: No, she’s Italian.
While I have often argued that cilantro has no place anywhere, it certainly has no place in Italian cuisine: cilantro in pasta sauce? Please. I can imagine those meatballs must have been very terrible indeed.
Some people think we cilantro haters are just a winy group of crazies, or that we must just hate everything. Fabio admits he isn’t crazy about artificial cherry flavor, (clearly a man of good taste) but quickly goes for typically less-desired foods like rooster neck or bull’s testicles. Not a finicky eater, just a man who knows what he likes, and what he really fucking hates. (Fabio likes to use the word “fuck” by the way–this cilantro hater approves–am I gushing, how embarrassing. I’ll admit the company is nice).
So, what’s next for Fabio (he was robbed and told to “pack his knives and go” last week)? He’s cooking me an 8 course cilantro tasting menu at his restaurant Cafe Firenze, of course.
Cilantro is the most popular herb in the world. You stated it's a staple in Mexico, Central and South America but don't forget India, Thailand and China. It's prevalence will never go away. On a side note, Julia Childs hated cilantro. She once said she would throw it on the floor if she ever saw it. lol
I know cilantro seems to be everywhere, all over the world, but is it really the most popular in the world? How would an herb earn that designation? Most consumed in weight? Used daily in the most countries' cuisines? I would think parsley or basil could at least give it a run for the money…will look into this further. RE Julia Child, totally http://ihatecilantro.blogspot.com/2008/04/wwjd.html
…"People are having fun with me when I say I hate cilantro… [It's] something fun."Why would someone hate something because it is "fun"? Hate something because you don't like it, it repulses you, etc., etc.There is an Indian saying that seems apt here…"Bandar kya janne adrak ka swaad!" (How would a monkey know/appreciate the flavor of ginger!)
Anon, To your point"Why would someone hate something because it is "fun"? Hate something because you don't like it, it repulses you, etc., etc."It seems you confuse correlation with causation. Chickens with eggs. Fabio, if I can speak for him, doesn't hate cilantro because it is fun to hate it, but rather, he hates because he doesn't like it and as an incidental after effect of this hate, he happens to have some fun with the hating of something benign. So hating cilantro can be both fun and terrible, but I think you do genuine haters a disservice to confuse their very real hate for something as superfluous as the need for fun 😉 As for monkeys and ginger, I don't know TOO much about that, but it's beyond my cognitive powers to empirically suggest that monkeys don't appreciate ginger. All I know is monkeys are awesome and ginger is awesome. But that too is a correlation, not a causal relationship.