Are you sure you don't like cilantro?

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Gun control, immigration, universal health care. These hot-button issues are sure to incite a fiery debate. But cilantro? How could such a seemingly harmless herb leave such a bad taste in people's mouths? Love it or hate it, cilantro tends to stir emotions. As a testament to people's intense interest in what may be the most controversial herb since hemp, a recent New York Times article on the topic sat atop the newspaper website's most popular list for days. But with Cinco de Mayo almost here, and a whole season of garden-fresh edibles on the way, now's a good time to revisit this must-have ingredient for salsa, guacamole, and gazpacho.

So what is it about this herb that creates such strong love-hate feelings? "Perhaps it's the herb's reputation for smelling like bedbugs," explains Ethne Clarke, editor-in-chief of Organic Gardening magazine. "Having smelled bedbugs, I didn't get the similarity."

THE DETAILS: Clarke says she's now hooked on the herb, but admits that the first time she tasted cilantro in a salad in a Greek restaurant in London, she told the waitress she thought there was soap in the greenery. The waitress laughed and told her it was coriander leaf. (Coriander is the seed portion of the plant.) Researchers have found that similar compounds used in soap production are present in cilantro, too. Perhaps because of this, cilantro has long been considered an acquired taste. "When I first came to Rodale in the 1980s, cilantro was little-used here, and I had virtually no working knowledge of it" explains JoAnn Brader, test kitchen manager at Rodale. When a forward-thinking kitchen staffer started developing recipes calling for cilantro, her first reaction was, "It tastes like kerosene!" However, she adds, "Over time, though, I grew to really, really like it. It was definitely gradual, though, and from what I read, that seems to occur quite often with this particular herb."