I was chopping up some fresh, emerald-green cilantro to adorn and flavor my green chile stew, savoring its unique scent...but wait!  I was reminded by a recent foodie report that there are some people who absolutely detest the smell of cilantro.

Surprising?  I think of cilantro (also known as coriander) as a hallmark scent and flavor for Tex-Mex foods, Asian dishes and even omelettes and fritattas.  But this report (and isn't there a report for just about everything you'd want to know?) said that some people find cilantro to have a noxious, soapy smell that drives them away from any food containing this summery herb. 

It doesn't smell like soap to me, fortunately, because I can't get enough of it, and add it to all kinds of foods, though always at the end of cooking, since heat seems to make its readily-identifiable flavor kind of bland. 

So, how do you like your cilantro, or does it make you cringe?  I haven't tried dried cilantro, but I always include some in my window herb garden.  When I add it to posole or even scattered over a jalapeno-studded cornbread, it's pure dining pleasure.