On May 27, 10:30*am, "Russell D." wrote:
On 05/26/2011 07:48 PM, Tim J. wrote:

Russell *typed:
snip
Well, that's all just fine and dandy, but who in their right mind
would plant cilantro on purpose.

Me. I LOVE the stuff. Almost everything tastes better with cilantro, and
salsa would just be tomato sauce without it.

OK, I planted cilantro, but she made me.

I like her - who is she?

My wife. She loves the stuff. She starts chopping up the stuff and I
have to leave. The smell literally hurts my nose.

Check out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html

"The senses of smell and taste evolved to evoke strong emotions, he
explained, because they were critical to finding food and mates and
avoiding poisons and predators. When we taste a food, the brain
searches its memory to find a pattern from past experience that the
flavor belongs to. Then it uses that pattern to create a perception of
flavor, including an evaluation of its desirability."

Interesting. A bit earlier in the article mention is made of
"aldehydes." Beer lovers may be familiar with this class of
chemicals. Aldehydes of one sort or another are a common enough (and
much loathed.....generally) byproduct of the fermentation of grain
products. They are reponsible for what is often termed a "cardboardy"
flavor and aroma. Very accurate comparison, in my opinion.....as one
who has occasionally chewed cardboard.....for reasons that have been
forgotten, although the results have not.

The references to genetic predispositions are about as boring as
virtually ALL references to genetic determinism has gotten in recent
years.

And my favorite:

http://ihatecilantro.com/

Also interesting. However, they go fatally astray in the second
sentence (well, third, if you count "Welcome" as a sentence). They
are not "rational people." They may in fact be rational.....or they
might be people. But if they were the former they would certainly be
aware that they cannot possibly be the latter. Whereas, on the other
hand, if they are the latter.....well, they might just well believe
anything. There are people (and other creatures) in this world that
eat beets. There are people (well, reputedly, anyway) who like Adam
Sandler. And there are people who believe that Murrica has been (and
remains) populated by liberals and other communists.

Go figure.

giles
who, in recent years, has come to appreciate the indian philosophy of
cooking. put enough spices on it and it really doesn't matter all
that much what the vehicle is. unfortunately, this eminently rational
culinary rationale does not carry over well into the worlds of
philosophy and theology.