The 1 Ingredient You’ll Never Find in Ina Garten's or Julia Child’s Recipes

Each chef or home cook has that one ingredient they keep up their sleeve for all occasions. When a Reddit thread asked chefs to share their all-time favorite ingredient, people were quick to chime in. One person attested to lemon juice, which they said, "enhances flavor in almost anything.” Another person praised bay leaves, which, “like salt, you don't want them to be the dominant flavor in anything, but they make a night and day difference in stews, pasta sauce, you name it.” Others mentioned garlic, potatoes, MSG, and spices like cayenne pepper and paprika.

But what about the ingredients that chefs just can’t get behind? I, for one, am one of those people who is cursed with the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap—but I'm not the only one. Two of our favorite chefs also seem to stay clear of this ingredient too.

Ina Garten and Julia Child's Least Favorite Ingredient

According to The New York Times, Julia Child revealed her disdain for cilantro in an interview with Larry King in 2002, saying she, “...would pick it out if [she] saw it and throw it on the floor." We are one and the same, Julia Child!

And it looks like another celebrity shares the disdain with us. In an interview with The Today Show, Ina Garten confessed, “I just can’t stand cilantro, that’s easy." She went on to say, “It’s such a strong flavor and it overwhelms everything else and I actually think it's physiological. I like to say that Julia Child didn’t like cilantro either.” 

Despite what people may have told you, people aren’t just being picky when it comes to disliking cilantro. As The Barefoot Contessa mentioned, it’s physiological, and it all lies in your genes.

Why Does Cilantro Taste Like Soap?

In a study done by 23andMe, researchers found that people who said cilantro tastes like soap share a common smell-receptor gene cluster called OR6A2, which picks up the scent of aldehyde chemicals. Natural aldehyde chemicals are found in cilantro leaves but they are also used during soap making. 

While the OR6A2 gene may cause some people to taste soap when they eat cilantro, there are at least three more genes that could be involved. One gene codes for smell receptors and the other two affect the taste of bitterness. So even if you don't have the OR6A2 gene, other genetics could play a factor in your cilantro hatred.

So the next time somebody tries to give you flack about not liking cilantro, just tell them that even two of our greatest chefs also didn’t like it.